Raspberry Mille Feuille
Raspberry Mille Feuille
I think I have perfected the best raspberry mille feuille recipe!
After posting my Puff Pastry 101 recipe I saw the most amazing baking tray on Instagram that claims to give an even consistency to your puff pastry every time – say goodbye to the weighted method and hello to consistent, even puff pastry every time! It’s a little on the pricey side but it did not disappoint, and I think it’s a must have if you want to create the perfect mille feuille.
This is a classic raspberry mille feuille recipe, with creme diplomat (a mixture of equal parts crème pâtissière to double cream) and raspberry coulis sandwich between the layers of puff pastry. I’ve left the top of my mille feuille plain, but you can decorate with fresh raspberries and a dusting of icing sugar if you wish.
Don’t fancy a raspberry mille feuille? Feel free to mix up the fruits!
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Ingredients
Method
Use the Puff Pastry 101 guide to prepare your classic puff pastry. Once you have completed all 6 turns of the dough and chilled it, roll it out into a rectangle, that is roughly 4mm thick.
Line the inside of the perforated puff pastry tray with a perforated silicon mat, and place the puff pastry into the centre. Place a second perforated mat on top and then slide the top of the tray on.
Place the tray into the freezer for 20 minutes to chill the dough, and in the meantime preheat your oven to 175C/345F Non- Fan Assisted.
Once chilled, slide the tray into the centre of the oven (it helps to put a sheet of parchment paper at the bottom of the oven to stop butter leaking onto your oven!) and bake it for 75 minutes.
Now if you do not have the fancy tray you can absolutely bake this using the traditional 'weighted tray' method. Place the puff pastry onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (or a perforated baking mat). Place a second sheet of baking paper (or mat) on top along with another baking sheet. Now you need to weigh the tray down so that pastry only puffs up slightly as it bakes. Add around 1.7kg of weight, evenly distributed across the top baking tray. The timing of the bake can vary slightly so I still bake at 175C/345F and just check the pastry after about 60 minutes. Keep baking it until it is an even golden colour then remove the top tray and baking paper, and proceed with the caramelisation step as described later in the recipe (Step 19)
In a medium saucepan, add the milk. Cut the vanilla bean pod lengthways and scrape out the fresh beans into the saucepan. Cook the mixture until it just begins to steam.
While it heats, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt until smooth and thickened.
Slowly pour the hot milk over the sugar and eggs mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat until it begins to bubble, then cook for 1 minute.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and pass the mixture through a sieve placed over a large bowl.
Whisk in the butter until the mixture is smooth. Spread it out into a thin even layer and cover the surface with cling film. Refrigerate it for 2 hours or until cool and firm.
Into a small bowl, stir together the powdered gelatin and water and set this aside for 5 minutes to bloom.
Stir together the pectin and sugar and set this to one side.
Add the frozen raspberries and raspberry puree to a small saucepan and stir them together over a medium heat until they warm slightly (about 40C/105F). Whisk in the pectin sugar mixture and continue to whisk until it reaches a boil.
Remove it from the heat and whisk through the bloomed gelatin mixture.
Pour it into a tall jug and let it set in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
After 75 minutes, the pastry should have an even golden colour but not be too dark yet. Remove it from the oven and then increase the temperature to 200C/390F Fan Assisted. I like to use fan assisted for the next stage just for a slightly more even heat distribution but if you don’t have a fan simply set the oven to 215C/420F.
Remove the lid of the tray and the top perforated mat.
Dust an even layer of icing sugar over the top of the pastry and place it back into the centre of the oven. Keep a very close eye on it, as it can go from golden to burnt very quickly! It will take around 7-12 minutes, until the puff pastry has caramelised and you have a shiny golden top to your dough. Immediately remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for around 30 minutes.
Use a sharp serrated knife to cut your puff pastry down to size, trimming off the rough edges. You can either make one very large mille feuille by cutting it into 3 long pieces or 2 medium sized ones, by cutting it into 6 pieces.
Remove the chilled crème pâtissière from the fridge and whisk it up to smooth it, then place it on a scale to weigh it. It should weigh roughly 250g.
Taking that weight, weigh the same amount of double/heavy cream and whisk this in a stand mixer or with an electric hand whisk until you have a medium stiff peak. Then, add in the creme patissiere and whisk this through. You should end up with a mixture that has a medium stiff peak. If it is too soft, then you did not whip your cream to a stiff enough texture.
Add into a piping bag fitted with a round tip nozzle, and piping onto the non-caramelised side, pipe spirals of the cream. You only need to pipe onto 2 out of the 3 (or 4 out of the 6) puff pastry rectangles.
Then place the piped puff pastry into the freezer for 30 minutes. This will quickly set the cream and stop it from collapsing as you assemble it.
Remove the raspberry coulis from the fridge and give it a quick blend with a hand blender to get it to a smooth, pipeable texture. If you feel it is still slightly too stiff, you can add a small splash of raspberry puree to loosen it.
Add this into a piping bag and remove your chilled puff pastry from the freezer.
Pipe the coulis in between the lines of diplomat cream, and then stack the puff pastry on top of each other, finishing with the non-piped piece as the ‘lid’. You should have three layers of puff pastry sandwiched with two layers of cream.
Quickly and carefully flip the mille feuille onto its side and onto your serving plate.
Leave it to come to room temperature for just a few minutes and then serve.
Ingredients
Directions
Use the Puff Pastry 101 guide to prepare your classic puff pastry. Once you have completed all 6 turns of the dough and chilled it, roll it out into a rectangle, that is roughly 4mm thick.
Line the inside of the perforated puff pastry tray with a perforated silicon mat, and place the puff pastry into the centre. Place a second perforated mat on top and then slide the top of the tray on.
Place the tray into the freezer for 20 minutes to chill the dough, and in the meantime preheat your oven to 175C/345F Non- Fan Assisted.
Once chilled, slide the tray into the centre of the oven (it helps to put a sheet of parchment paper at the bottom of the oven to stop butter leaking onto your oven!) and bake it for 75 minutes.
Now if you do not have the fancy tray you can absolutely bake this using the traditional 'weighted tray' method. Place the puff pastry onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (or a perforated baking mat). Place a second sheet of baking paper (or mat) on top along with another baking sheet. Now you need to weigh the tray down so that pastry only puffs up slightly as it bakes. Add around 1.7kg of weight, evenly distributed across the top baking tray. The timing of the bake can vary slightly so I still bake at 175C/345F and just check the pastry after about 60 minutes. Keep baking it until it is an even golden colour then remove the top tray and baking paper, and proceed with the caramelisation step as described later in the recipe (Step 19)
In a medium saucepan, add the milk. Cut the vanilla bean pod lengthways and scrape out the fresh beans into the saucepan. Cook the mixture until it just begins to steam.
While it heats, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt until smooth and thickened.
Slowly pour the hot milk over the sugar and eggs mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat until it begins to bubble, then cook for 1 minute.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and pass the mixture through a sieve placed over a large bowl.
Whisk in the butter until the mixture is smooth. Spread it out into a thin even layer and cover the surface with cling film. Refrigerate it for 2 hours or until cool and firm.
Into a small bowl, stir together the powdered gelatin and water and set this aside for 5 minutes to bloom.
Stir together the pectin and sugar and set this to one side.
Add the frozen raspberries and raspberry puree to a small saucepan and stir them together over a medium heat until they warm slightly (about 40C/105F). Whisk in the pectin sugar mixture and continue to whisk until it reaches a boil.
Remove it from the heat and whisk through the bloomed gelatin mixture.
Pour it into a tall jug and let it set in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
After 75 minutes, the pastry should have an even golden colour but not be too dark yet. Remove it from the oven and then increase the temperature to 200C/390F Fan Assisted. I like to use fan assisted for the next stage just for a slightly more even heat distribution but if you don’t have a fan simply set the oven to 215C/420F.
Remove the lid of the tray and the top perforated mat.
Dust an even layer of icing sugar over the top of the pastry and place it back into the centre of the oven. Keep a very close eye on it, as it can go from golden to burnt very quickly! It will take around 7-12 minutes, until the puff pastry has caramelised and you have a shiny golden top to your dough. Immediately remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for around 30 minutes.
Use a sharp serrated knife to cut your puff pastry down to size, trimming off the rough edges. You can either make one very large mille feuille by cutting it into 3 long pieces or 2 medium sized ones, by cutting it into 6 pieces.
Remove the chilled crème pâtissière from the fridge and whisk it up to smooth it, then place it on a scale to weigh it. It should weigh roughly 250g.
Taking that weight, weigh the same amount of double/heavy cream and whisk this in a stand mixer or with an electric hand whisk until you have a medium stiff peak. Then, add in the creme patissiere and whisk this through. You should end up with a mixture that has a medium stiff peak. If it is too soft, then you did not whip your cream to a stiff enough texture.
Add into a piping bag fitted with a round tip nozzle, and piping onto the non-caramelised side, pipe spirals of the cream. You only need to pipe onto 2 out of the 3 (or 4 out of the 6) puff pastry rectangles.
Then place the piped puff pastry into the freezer for 30 minutes. This will quickly set the cream and stop it from collapsing as you assemble it.
Remove the raspberry coulis from the fridge and give it a quick blend with a hand blender to get it to a smooth, pipeable texture. If you feel it is still slightly too stiff, you can add a small splash of raspberry puree to loosen it.
Add this into a piping bag and remove your chilled puff pastry from the freezer.
Pipe the coulis in between the lines of diplomat cream, and then stack the puff pastry on top of each other, finishing with the non-piped piece as the ‘lid’. You should have three layers of puff pastry sandwiched with two layers of cream.
Quickly and carefully flip the mille feuille onto its side and onto your serving plate.
Leave it to come to room temperature for just a few minutes and then serve.
Can I replace the raspberries with strawberries? In what portion? I’m dying to try your recipe
yes 1-1 swap!