How to Make the Most Delicious Mille-Feuilles Yourself

Heel Holland Bakt winner Rutger van den Broek keeps happily baking away. Not just Dutch pastries, such as this mille-feuille, but also delicious treats from all over the world. From Indonesian pandan cake to Austrian apple strudel, in his new book De Bakatlas he shows you how diverse baking is in these different countries and how you can do it yourself at home. 

Rutger: “The mille-feuille, also known in Dutch as tompoes, originated in France, but it is certainly one of the best-known ‘Dutch’ pastries. I think they taste best when freshly made; that’s when the contrast between the crisp puff pastry and the creamy filling is at its best!”

How to make the mille-feuilles

• Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
• Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface into a rectangle measuring 40×25 centimetres. If you are using chilled puff pastry, roll it out and place it, along with the baking paper, on the baking sheet. Cut the dough in half lengthwise, so you have two long strips of dough. Prick the puff pastry every few centimetres with a fork, so it does not puff up during baking.
• Bake the puff pastry for 8 minutes at 200 °C. Then reduce the oven temperature to 180 °C and place a metal (cake or oven) rack on top of the puff pastry. Press the dough flat with it and leave the rack in place so the pastry remains flat. Bake the dough with the rack on top for another 15–20 minutes, until beautifully golden brown. Remove the rack and let the puff pastry cool on another rack.
• Beat the pastry cream loose with a (hand) mixer fitted with beaters and pipe it using a piping bag fitted with a smooth 12-millimetre nozzle over 1 sheet of baked puff pastry.
• Whip the cream with the sugar and whipped-cream stabiliser until stiff using a (hand) mixer fitted with beaters, then transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a 12-millimetre star nozzle. Pipe 3⁄4 of the whipped cream over the pastry cream. Cover the whipped cream with the other sheet of puff pastry, with the smoothest side facing upwards. Carefully press the sheet down slightly and smooth the filling along all sides.
• Mix the icing sugar with the beetroot juice or food colouring and the hot water to make a smooth glaze, and spread it over the top of the puff pastry sheet. Place the mille-feuilles in the refrigerator for at least 1⁄2 hour to set.
• Cut the strip into 8 equal mille-feuilles, approximately 4.5×10 centimetres. Do this by using a sharp serrated knife to cut through the top sheet in 1–2 strokes first, followed by the filling and the bottom sheet. Transfer the remaining whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a 1-centimetre star nozzle and use it to decorate the mille-feuilles.

How to make the pastry cream

• Pour 450 millilitres of the milk into a saucepan. Using a sharp paring knife, split the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add both the scraped-out pod and the seeds to the milk and bring everything to a boil.
• Put the remaining milk, sugar and egg yolks in a bowl and whisk well. Finally, whisk in the cornflour and make a smooth paste.
• When the milk boils, remove the vanilla pod. While stirring, pour half of the hot milk onto the sugar mixture. Stir well. Then pour this mixture into the saucepan with the other half of the milk and bring everything to a boil, stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken and bind. Keep stirring the entire time. Let the mixture simmer gently for 1–2 minutes.
• Pour the pastry cream into a low, shallow dish (so it cools faster) and cover it with cling film. Make sure the film lies directly on the cream, so no skin can form. Let the cream cool slightly on the counter first, then place the bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Before using, beat the pastry cream loose with a (hand) mixer fitted with beaters.

Title: De Bakatlas
Author: Rutger van den Broek
Price: €35
Publisher: Carrera Culinair

Also read:

• Recipe: mille-feuille cake
• This year we’re eating mille-feuille buns on New Year’s Eve
• You can now buy HEMA mille-feuille beer