Vanilla Bean Mille Feuille Cups
Ingredients:
For the pastry cream (make first – it needs time to chill)
- 480 ml/ 2 cups whole milk
- 100g sugar
- 1 Vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 1 tsp vanilla paste with seeds)
- 5 egg yolks
- 30 g/ ¼ cup corn starch
- Pinch of salt
- 30 g/ 2 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small cubes
For the puff pastry flakes:
- 1 sheet or four 5x5 inch puff pastry squares
For the whipped cream:
- 240 ml/ 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 30 g/ ¼ cup powdered sugar, sifted
Toppings:
- Berries
- Shaved chocolate
Directions:
1. Place the milk, cream, and vanilla bean with scraped out seeds into a 2-3 quart saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Whisk the eggs, sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl until completely smooth. When the milk mixture comes to a simmer, remove the vanilla bean. Add roughly 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking to temper the eggs. Add egg mixture to milk/cream and return to medium heat.
2. Whisk constantly (make sure your whisk can reach the corners). After the mixture thickens, wait for a boil and then cook for 1 minute, whisking the entire time. Take off heat. Add salt and butter. Whisk until the butter dissolves. Strain the pastry cream. Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl (it will cool faster). Press a piece of plastic or parchment paper directly onto the top of the cream. Cool at room temperature for 30 minutes and refrigerate 2-3 hours. Smooth out with a whisk before using.
3. In the meantime, prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Arrange pastry sheet or squares straight from the fridge on the lined tray, place another parchment paper on top and then place another baking tray on top. ** Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely and then break apart into flakes. Set aside until assembly.
4. Right before assembly, make the whipped cream by whisking the heavy cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the cold pastry cream.
5. Assemble the cups by alternating with pastry cream and puff pastry flakes. Top with berries or shaved chocolate. Cover with aluminum foil (NOT PLASTIC FOIL) and refrigerate for 4 hours.
6. Enjoy!
**Note: Puff pastry gets the crispiest when air can circulate around it.
BEST CASE SCENARIO is the following setup: perforated baking sheet with 2 perforated silicone mats, one for the bottom and one for the top. I work with puff pastry a lot so I have invested in those items, but if all you have is a regular baking tray and parchment paper, it will work just fine. I wanted to explain the setup you see in the video.
