Vanilla mille-feuille
Mille-feuille with crisp puff pastry and Madagascar Bourbon vanilla pastry cream, glaze included. The classic recipe, step by step.
- Prep 60 min
- Cooking 25 min
- Total 85 min
- Serves 6 servings
- Difficulty Hard
The mille-feuille layers three sheets of crisp puff pastry with two layers of vanilla pastry cream, under a smooth icing. Baked under a second tray, the pastry stays nice and flat for a clean finish.
The pastry cream is flavoured with Bourbon vanilla: our family grows and prepares this vanilla in the SAVA region, in north-eastern Madagascar. Assembly takes place once the cream and the pastry are completely cold.
Preparation
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Prepare the pastry cream: split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Heat the milk with the seeds and scraped pod until it just starts to simmer, then turn off the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
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Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale, then whisk in the cornflour.
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Remove the pod from the milk, bring it back to the boil and pour it gradually over the yolk and sugar mixture while whisking. Pour everything back into the saucepan.
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Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the cream thickens and reaches 1 to 2 boils. Pour it into a dish, cover with cling film touching the surface and leave to cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
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Preheat the oven to 200°C. Unroll the puff pastry sheets, prick them all over with a fork, place a sheet of baking paper then a second tray on top to keep them nice and flat.
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Bake for 25 minutes, removing the top tray for the last 5 minutes if the pastry is not golden enough. Leave to cool completely, then cut each sheet into three equal rectangles of the same size.
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Whisk the cold pastry cream for a few seconds to loosen it, then pipe it onto a first pastry rectangle using a piping bag. Place a second rectangle on top, pipe cream again, then place the third rectangle, smooth side up.
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Mix the icing sugar with the water until you get a smooth, runny glaze, and spread it over the top of the mille-feuille.
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Optional: melt the dark chocolate and draw thin parallel lines on the still-fresh glaze, then run the tip of a knife across them to create the classic marbled pattern.
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Keep in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before cutting the mille-feuille into portions, with a thin, serrated knife, in a clean, firm motion.
The little extra that changes everything
To slice without crushing the layers, run the knife under hot water and wipe it before each cut. Pipe the cream with a piping bag rather than a spoon: the layer stays even over the whole surface. Another basic vanilla preparation, used here as a filling: vanilla pastry cream. Our products for this recipe: Madagascar Bourbon vanilla pods
