2000 feuilles
A mille-feuille dessert composed of caramelized flaky puff pastry, a hazelnut praline crisp layer, and hazelnut mousseline cream.
Ingredients
Inverted puff pastry (rolled to 0.5cm thick)
to taste
Caster sugar (for sprinkling and baking)
80 g
Powdered sugar (for sprinkling and baking)
50 g
Buttercream (base recipe on page 560)
530 g
Hazelnut praline (60/40)
95 g
Hazelnut spread (Fugar)
80 g
Custard sauce (base recipe on page 560)
150 g
Whipped heavy cream
160 g
Crispy wafers (Cacao Barry)
to taste
Caramel almonds (for decoration)
to taste
Instructions
1
Roll the puff pastry
Roll the puff pastry to 0.5 cm thick, then cut to the size of the baking sheet. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper, place the pastry on it. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to ensure it expands well and does not shrink during baking. Alternatively, the rolled pastry can be frozen for storage.
2
Make caramelized puff pastry
Place the pastry on the baking sheet, sprinkle evenly with 80 g of caster sugar. Put it in an oven preheated to 230°C, then immediately reduce the temperature to 190°C and bake for a total of 20-25 minutes. Bake for 10 minutes first, then cover with a baking rack to prevent excessive expansion, and continue baking for 8 minutes. Remove the baking sheet, take off the rack, cover with dry parchment paper and another identical baking sheet. Flip both baking sheets together onto a work surface, remove the top baking sheet and parchment paper. At this point, the original bottom is facing up. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar, then put it into the oven at 250°C to finish the final baking. Within a few minutes, the sugar will turn yellow, melt and caramelize. After taking out of the oven, the surface is glossy, and the bottom is crispy due to the embedded caster sugar.
3
Make hazelnut mousseline cream
Whip the very cold heavy cream to stiff peaks in a stand mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk the custard sauce smooth by hand with a manual whisk. Whip the buttercream in the stand mixer, mix in the hazelnut praline and hazelnut spread, then add the custard sauce. Finally, fold in the whipped heavy cream by hand. Use immediately.
4
Assemble large-portion desserts
Cut three pieces of caramelized puff pastry and one piece of hazelnut praline crisp layer, each measuring 17.5 x 11 cm. The mousseline cream portions are 70 g, 70 g and 150 g respectively. After assembly, attach crispy wafers around the edges of the dessert.
5
Assemble small-portion desserts
Cut the caramelized puff pastry into three 11 cm wide strips. Place one caramelized pastry strip on the steel plate of a puff pastry cutter, with the glossy caramelized side facing up. Use a piping bag (without a tip) to pipe 250 g of hazelnut cream, place the frozen hazelnut praline crisp layer on top, then pipe another 250 g of cream. Cover with the second caramelized pastry strip, in the same direction, and pipe 500 g of cream. Finally, cover with the third caramelized pastry strip. Attach crispy wafers to the two long edges, then cut into 13 equal portions.
6
Decoration
Small portions: Place on polypropylene rectangular sheets, fold the edges. Decorate with one caramel almond and a small PH logo. Large portions: Place on gold card stock; use 12x19 cm for 3-4 servings, 19x20 cm for 6-8 servings, and 20x24 cm for 10-12 servings. Decorate the bottom left corner with 3, 5 or 7 caramel almonds depending on the size, and place a large PH stamp in front.
