Millefoglie with Cream and Fruit

Recipe:

Millefoglie sheets layered with Italian Crema Pasticcera cream and sliced fresh fruit, are a perfect dessert to put together in no time at all.  The advantage of this dessert is that most of the steps can be prepared ahead of time.  By combining sweet baked puff pastry, crema pasticcera and layered fresh fruit, you can easily create a beautiful dessert in no time at all.  This elegant dessert is definitely a show stopper.  Let’s get started! 

Supplies:

• Mangiafuoco Home Gas Oven 
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheet 
• Hand blender
• 2 Piping bags
• Cooling rack 

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets Puff pastry – we used Pepperidge Farm
• 150-170 grams powdered sugar 
• 300 grams Crema Pasticcera 
• 1 package strawberries – 16 oz 
• 20 grams Marsala – or any other liquor of your choosing – optional
• 1-2 handfuls blueberries for color contrast, or any berry of your choosing
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3 thyme sprigs – optional
• Mint for garnish 
• Zest of an orange for garnish

Whipped Cream:

• 200 grams heavy whipping cream – set some whipped cream aside for later
• Pinch of salt
• 15 grams sugar 

Directions:

1. Preheat the Mangiafuoco Home Gas Oven  to 400°F – 200°C.  **When lighting the gas oven, it is important to note that the door and damper should remain open.  Once the fire has been ignited, the door can be closed and the damper can be adjusted.** 
2. Dice 5-6 strawberries.  Place them in a bowl and pour the Marsala over the fruit.  Add just little sugar -1/2 teaspoon.  Remove the small thyme leaves from the sprigs and mix together.  Set aside.
3. Sprinkle a generous amount of powdered sugar on a clean work surface.  Begin rolling out the thawed puff pastry to about 1/8″ thickness.
4. Roll the dough over itself as you would a cinnamon roll.
5. Cut the long cylinder into about 1″ – 2.5 cm pieces all the way down the roll, as shown in the video.
6. Again, sprinkle a generous amount of powered sugar on the work surface.  Place one of the small puff pastry rolls on the powdered sugar and dust more over the roll.  Begin rolling each round out into an oval shape with the help of   a rolling pin. The thickness of the dough should be about 1/8″ thick.  Continue doing this until all of the dough is rolled out. 
7. Place the rolled out pieces of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Cover the dough with an additional sheet of parchment paper and place in the freezer to allow the dough to set.
8. While the dough is in the freezer, mix together the heavy whipping cream.  In a bowl, add a pinch of salt, sugar and the heavy whipping cream.  Whip until soft peaks form when lifting the whisk .  Be careful not to over-mix, as it can quickly turn into butter.  Reserve some whipped cream for garnish.
9. Fold in the Crema Pasticcera with the whipped cream.  Add this mixture to a piping bag and place in the refrigerator to keep cool for later.  
10. Remove the dough from the freezer and set an empty cookie sheet over the pastry dough which is covered in a sheet of parchment paper.  This will keep the pastry dough from puffing up.  If left without the weight, the puff pastry will end up being a bit thicker and a bit more uneven.  Totally ok!
11. Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven, making sure to check the temperature of the oven with the infrared thermometer.  Bake 6-8 minutes, checking halfway through, to see if the pan needs to be rotated.  If necessary, the thin pastries can be flipped.
12. Remove from the oven when the pastry ovals are golden brown, and place each on a cooling rack.
13. Once the puff pastry has cooled, place a small dollop of cream on the bottom of the serving plate.  Set the pastry over the cream.  This will keep it from sliding on the plate.  
14. With the piping bag, carefully pipe the cream around the edge of the pastry, as shown in the video.  
15. Add a small amount of the Marsala and thyme infused strawberries to the center of the cream frame.  
16. Add the sliced strawberries over the cream and a few blueberries.  
17. Again, pipe a small amount of cream over the Marsala and thyme infused strawberries. 
18. Place another puff pastry over the top of the strawberries.
19. Dust some powdered sugar over the pastry.
20. Pipe a few dollops of the whipped cream on the pastry and carefully place a fanned strawberry over the top.  Garnish with some thyme, mint and zest of an orange.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy! 

Buon Appetito!

**The baked and cooled puff pastry sheets can be stored in an airtight container making this an easy dessert to assemble later.