Mille-feuille 'strachin'

Not yet rated

This twist on a classic mille-feuille dessert by Giancarlo Perbellini is simplicity itself, with a simple vanilla cream matching wonderfully with homemade puff pastry.

First published in 2015
discover more:

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pastry

  • 500g of flour
  • 250g of water
  • 15g of salt
  • 75g of unsalted butter, diced, for the dough
  • 450g of unsalted butter, to form the puff pastry

Cream

  • 60g of egg yolk
  • 120g of sugar
  • 30g of butter
  • 1 pinch of cornflour
  • 1 vanilla pod, split
  • 120g of egg white

Garnish

  • 80g of amaretti biscuits, crushed
  • icing sugar, to dust

Method

1
To make the dough, knead the flour with the water, salt and 75g of the butter. Form a smooth dough block and leave it to stand in the fridge for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out the remaining 450g butter to a thickness of 1cm
  • 500g of flour
  • 250g of water
  • 15g of salt
  • 75g of unsalted butter, diced, for the dough
  • 450g of unsalted butter, to form the puff
2
Roll the dough until you obtain a 4–5mm thick rectangle, place the butter in the centre then bring the two ends of dough over the top of the butter to cover it. Beat with the rolling pin and roll out again
3
Turn the dough by 90 degrees, then bring the edges in again to create three layers of pastry. Roll out again, then turn. Repeat this procedure three times and leave to stand in the fridge for 10 minutes every time you turn the dough
4
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 before placing the dough in the fridge for the final resting
5
Next, roll out the dough until you obtain a 2–3mm thick sheet. Cut 12 discs out of the pastry, each with a diameter of 8cm. Bake for 10 minutes
6
Place the egg yolks, 90g of the sugar, the butter, cornflour and vanilla pod in a heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and stir the mixture until it reaches 82°C. Pour into a tray and leave to cool in the fridge
  • 60g of egg yolk
  • 30g of butter
  • 1 pinch of cornflour
  • 90g of sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, split
7
In the meantime, prepare a meringue by whisking the egg whites with the remaining 30g sugar. Fold this through the egg yolk mixture once cool
8
To plate, make a ring with the amaretti biscuits around the plate. Spoon some of the cream in the middle, top with a puff pastry disc and dust with icing sugar
  • icing sugar, to dust
First published in 2015
DISCOVER MORE:

At the helm of one of Italy’s most celebrated restaurants, Giancarlo Perbellini comes from a long line of pastry makers and is now a legend amongst his peers.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.

You may also like

Load more