The millefeuille with lavender custard, vanilla namelaka, meringues and fresh blackberries is a particular dessert, different from the usual cake, it is crunchy, fun to make and that leaves a lot of room for creativity.
The creamy layers contrast perfectly with the crunchy and crumbly pastry, the flavors blend divinely without overwhelming each other. Blackberries give that touch of freshness and acidity perfect to balance everything. The meringues, okay, those are the parsley of the pastry, wherever you put them they fit and are always yummy. Namelaka is a cream that I love because it is very suitable for filling and decorating cakes, easy to make and super creamy. It is in between a ganache and a mousse, no eggs or flour are needed to prepare it and it is very quick to make.
I had never tried puff pastry before, I always thought it was brigosa (complicated in Romagna), very long and rather difficult preparation. To my great surprise, everything went smoothly and seeing it grow in the oven all beautifully layered gave me incredible satisfaction, and then the smell! You have to have a little bit of care and patience with the resting time, but it's really worth it.
I have prepared the millefeuille for the first time as a birthday cake for my mom, she too is lova (greedy) like me. To celebrate the excellent (and unexpected) success of the dessert, as well as the birthday girl herself, I named it after her.
A few days before her birthday dinner I asked her to tell me what kind of cake she would have liked and she, a meringues lover, immediately answered Pavlova of which I leave you my version here. Too bad that I had already prepared it last year for my sister, so in order not to repeat myself I promised her that I would surprise her with another cake including the meringues. Millefeuille is one of her favorite desserts and she always struggles to find a really good one when she orders it at the restaurant: sometimes too soft and wet because of the cream, sometimes so dry that can't be cut it with a fork.
And here is my perfect millefeuille: three layers of crunchy puff pastry alternating with a lavender custard and a very soft vanilla namelaka, all decorated with blackberries, meringues and gold leaf for a scenographic presentation. Everyone liked it and I will certainly propose it again with different flavors and other toppings.
Tips
Puff pastry: to roll it out, help yourself by sprinkling the table with granulated sugar and a little flour so it won't dry out too much. Before baking it, sprinkle it with icing sugar to obtain a well caramelized surface.
Lavender custard: add only one tablespoon or less of lavender to the milk, use very little to keep the cream from resembling a soap bar. Add a little and taste, better not to abound in this case otherwise you will have to throw it away.
Namelaka: mix very well while adding the milk a little at a time and do not be scared if it immediately looks like glue, the cream will become smooth eventually. The same thing must be done after resting, with a hand whisk mix it well to make it smooth and shiny again.
Happy baking!
Recipe
Download the PDF
Preparation time 3 hours + 12 hours rest
Baking tima 25 minutes
Servings 12
Ingredients
PUFF PASTRY
165 gr of soft butter
400 gr of cold butter cut into cubes
600 gr of all purpose flour
12 gr of salt
250 gr of water
Powdered sugar q.s.
LAVENDER CUSTARD
750 gr of milk
2 egg yolks
1 egg
225 gr of granulated sugar
1 tbsp of edible lavender
VANILLA NAMELAKA
170 gr of white chocolate
200 gr of fresh cream
100 ml of milk
5 gr of honey
1 vanilla pod
3 gr di colla di pesceof isinglass
DECORATION
Meringues q.s.
Fresh blackberries q.s.
Edible gold leaf q.s.
Method
FOR THE PUFF PASTRY
1. In a stand mixer, with a kneading hook, pour water, salt, flour and soft butter. Turn on and let knead for about two minutes at low speed
2. Add the cold butter cut into cubes, turn on the stand mixer for about a minute at low speed to roughly incorporate it
3. Transfer the dough to a work surface sprinkled with flour and granulated sugar and start rolling it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin
First fold
Once reached a thickness of about 1/2 cm, fold the dough into three, imagine dividing the sheet into three equal parts: A, B and C, fold A over B, then C over A + B. Keeping the short side towards us, spread the pastry slightly with a rolling pin and roll it out again
Second fold
Imagine dividing the sheet into 4 equal parts: A on B, D on C, matching the outer edges in the center and closing the sheet back on itself like a book. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for an hour wrapped in cling film
Third fold
Take out the dough, spread it slightly and roll it out again. Always keeping the short side towards us, proceed with a second fold into 4 parts, always turning the sheet with the short side towards us
Fourth fold
Roll out and repeat the same procedure as above. Leave the pastry to rest in the refrigerator overnight wrapped in cling film
4. Roll out the dough to its entire length and cut three rectangles of equal size, place the rectangles on a baking sheet, pierce them with a fork and sprinkle them with powdered sugar, bake at 200 ° in the oven with fan for about 25 minutes. The dough, when ready, must be well layered and the sugar on the surface caramelized. Leave to cool completely
FOR THE LAVENDER CUSTARD
1. In a saucepan pour the milk and add the lavender, heat over low heat
2. In a saucepan, add the yolks, the egg and the sugar, mix with a hand whisk or an electric mixer to obtain a light and fluffy cream. Then add the sifted flour and mix again
3. Filter the hot milk into the pot with eggs and sugar. Place the saucepan over low heat and stir constantly
4. When the cream begins to thicken (1-2 minutes) remove the pan from the heat and transfer the cream to a bowl to cool, covering the surface with film in contact with the cream
FOR THE VANILLA NAMELAKA
1. Soak the isinglass in cold water for about 10 minutes. Chop the white chocolate and add it to a large bowl, melt it in a bain-marie or in the microwave
2. In a saucepan, pour milk, honey and the seeds of the vanilla pod and heat gently
3. Pour the hot milk into the melted chocolate, mixing well to blend everything
4. Finally add the fresh cream and, with a blender, mix avoiding to incorporate too much air. Cover with cling film and leave in the refrigerator to rest for at least 8 hours
COMPOSITION
1. Fill two large round-tipped piping bags with the two creams. Place the first rectangle of puff pastry on a serving plate, pipe a first layer with the custard, sprinkle blackberries and meringues to taste
2. Place the second rectangle of pastry on top, pressing gently with your fingers, add another layer of custard, then the blackberries and meringues
3. Complete with the last rectangle of puff pastry by pressing it lightly on the cream. Decorate the surface with the namelaka, garnish with other blackberries, meringues and finally the gold leaf
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