Raspberry Mille-Feuilles

“A thousand leaves.” That’s the literal translation of mille-feuille (pronounced mēl-fwē). Named for the many “leaves” formed by the puff pastry that makes up at least three layers of this delicate dessert, mille-feuilles have been around since at least mid-17^th century, when François Pierre de la Varenne published what is considered the first recipe for this classic pastry in his 1651 cookbook, Le Cuisinier François. About a hundred years later, it was popularized by none other than Marie-Antoine Carême, the original celebrity chef.

Traditionally, mille-feuilles are constructed with three layers of thin, flaky pastry alternating with pastry cream or whipped cream and, sometimes, fruit. They are often topped with a thin layer of icing or fondant, but sometimes they are simply dusted with powdered sugar or cocoa powder. Early recipes for mille-feuilles are said to be precursors to our more modern layer cakes and were often stuffed with jam or marmalade.

While its elements seem relatively simple, the mille-feuille is greater than the sum of its parts. The beauty of a mille-feuille is in the perfection of each layer, from the crispy, flaky pastry to the silky smooth cream. And it can take years to master the art of perfect puff pastry.

For these mille-feuilles, the bakers in the Great White Tent were tasked with recreating Paul Hollywood’s recipe — with very little instruction. His is a fairly straightforward version — puff pastry rectangles sandwiching raspberry jam, fresh raspberries and Chantilly cream, topped with striped fondant.

Paul’s mille-feuille recipe uses his own version of rough puff pastry, which he calls “cheat’s rough puff.” I have made his version once before, for my cream horns. I wasn’t very happy with the results that time, and I admit I was less than satisfied this time, too. I just don’t feel you get the distinctive layers that a full puff pastry provides. The last time I made mille-feuilles (which was also my first time), I used full puff pastry, and they turned out much flakier.

Nonetheless, I followed the same recipe the GBBO bakers did, which calls for making a simple dough with flour, salt, butter and water. That is rolled out into a rectangle, and then frozen grated butter is spread over the bottom two-thirds of the rectangle. The top third is folded down, and the bottom third is folded up, like a business letter. This is rolled out again; more grated butter is applied; and the dough is folded a second time. After chilling, the folded dough is divided into thirds, and each piece is rolled out into a 9-by-12-inch rectangle about a quarter inch thick.

These large rectangles are placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerated for 10-15 minutes. Then they are sprinkled with powdered sugar, topped with another sheet of parchment and another baking sheet (to keep the dough from rising too high) and baked until golden and crisp. After they are cool, each piece must be cut into six 2-by-5-inch rectangles, resulting in 18 identical portions.

For the fondant topping, Paul’s recipe specifies that pink fondant should be rolled out and cut into strips, then laid atop white fondant and rolled together to form candy stripes. These must also be cut into 2-by-5-inch rectangles to fit on top of the mille-feuilles.

Once you’ve made the raspberry jam, the cream and the sugar syrup (which is used to adhere the fondant to the pastry), and your fondant is rolled and cut, it’s time to assemble the mille-feuilles:

• Start by spreading a thin layer of jam onto 12 of the pastry rectangles. 
• Arrange five raspberries on each of these pieces, staggering them so they will support the layer above it. 
• Pipe Chantilly cream in between the berries, then stack two of these berries-and-cream layers together. 
• On each of the remaining six rectangles, brush the sugar syrup onto the surface and place a rectangle of striped fondant on top. 
• These are then placed (carefully!) atop the other two layers, creating three layers of pastry with berries and cream in between and the pink-and-white striped fondant on top. 

You can’t go wrong with flaky pastry, berries, and fresh, sweetened cream! While the mille-feuille may be difficult to eat delicately, it is worth the embarrassment of trying to cut it with a fork only to have the whole thing collapse on your plate like a house of cards. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you eat it as a deconstructed mess or give up on decorum altogether and pick it up with your fingers — your tastebuds, and your tummy, will thank you!

You can find Paul’s original recipe here, but I have adapted it for American bakers below.

Up next: Classic British Cake