Maple Mille Feuille or Maple Napoleon

This maple Mille-Feuille, or Napoleon, is a twist on the classic French mille-feuille. Made with layers of golden crisp puff pastry and maple syrup infused pastry cream and whipped cream.

Mille-Feuille literally means a thousand leaves and these leaves refer to the layers in a puff pastry, while napoleon means flaky pastry. You can use store-bought ready to roll or homemade puff pastry, or Pate-feuillettee for this.

I always have to double the batch of these because they are so addictive. And no matter how many I make, they are always never enough. The sweet pastry cream in between layers of crispy puff pastry sheets is absolute heaven. And, the addition of maple syrup in this batch really does make a huge difference in flavor.

Table of Content

• About this recipe
• Mille-feuille - Valentine's Day dessert
• Ingredients and substitutes
• Step by step instructions
• Frequently asked questions
• You may also like
• Printable Recipe

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About this recipe

This dessert looks complicated, but in reality, it is very simple and easy. There are four components to making this dessert.

• Puff pastry sheets - The trick to getting this perfect is to dock the pastry and sandwich it between two parchment paper and two baking trays. Docking, as well as the weight of the baking tray, prevents it from puffing. When baked to a nice golden color, the pastry becomes crisp, so it cracks when cutting with a fork.
• Pastry cream - I prefer to use a nice stiff consistency pastry cream, that will hold its shape. If the pastry is too soft, it will easily spread and the layers will collapse.
  Stabilized pastry cream is often used in French patisseries to prevent the pastry cream from spreading. Gelatin is also often used as a stabilizer. Today, we have used extra cornstarch, but you must cook it until it thickens as shown in the video.
• Whipped cream - I like to add whipped cream to the pastry cream to lighten it up.
• Assembling - The puff pastry and pastry cream can be made up to three days ahead of time. You can even assemble the mille-feuille a day in advance.

Mille-feuille - Valentine's Day dessert

Mille-feuille is the perfect dessert for valentine's day no matter what shape you make. As you can see, I have made a heart shape to keep up with the Valentine mille-feuille theme.

Ingredients and substitutes

• Puff Pastry - Store-bought is just fine. I often make homemade puff pastry too. But, either one works just fine.
• Milk - For the sake of consistency, it is important to use full-fat milk, no low-fat or skimmed milk.
• Sugar - I use white fine grain sugar so it dissolves easily in the milk.
• Cream - Again, you want to use a good 38% or more or you won't have the right consistency for your pastry cream.
• Vanilla - I like to use vanilla bean scrapings because it gives me those black specks in the pastry cream, just like you find in the French patisseries.

Step by step instructions

Puff pastry

• Preheat the oven at 190 C / 375 F. Cut the puff pastry into two. Roll each sheet to about 12 x 8-inch rectangle
  Tip - this measure is a guide but you can certainly main your own size and shape.
• Work with one sheet at a time. Place on a parchment paper so it’s easy to move around.
  Tip - always keep puff pastry chilled or it will be difficult to work with. If necessary place in the freezer for 5 minutes for a quick chill between steps
• Then cut the pastry at every 2-inch interval so you have 6 long strips. Cut each strip in half at the center so you should have 12 equal pieces. Dock the pastry with the fork and sprinkle with granulated sugar
  Tip - docking the pastry encourages crispness, and, the granulated sugar caramelizes and gives that golden color to the baked pastry
• Place a parchment paper on top. Then place a baking tray on top.
  Tip - the top baking tray prevents the pastry from puffing too much as well as helps make it crispy.
• Bake on the center rack for 15 minutes
• Remove the baking tray and parchment paper – bake another 10 minutes until lightly golden. Remove and let cool completely
  Tip - the final baking without the baking tray will encourage the pastry to become crisp which is what we want.

Maple pastry cream

• Today, we are using the simple one-pot pastry cream method but you can also use the classic pastry cream method. Click to videos on how to make these
• In a heavy-bottom saucepan, combine sugar, maple syrup, cornstarch, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. Slowly add the milk while whisking to prevent lumps.
• Place the saucepan on medium heat stirring continuously until the pastry cream thickens.
  Tip - You want the pastry cream to come to a low simmer (boil) so the cornstarch will thicken the mixture and cookout.
• Add the butter and continue to stir on low making sure to prevent the pastry from sticking or burning at the bottom.
• Once the pastry cream is thick, remove from heat and pass it through a sieve or mesh. This will remove any lump and give you a smooth velvet-like pastry cream.
• Cover with the plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream. Set aside to cool completely.
  Tip - the plastic touching the pastry cream will prevent skin from forming on the pastry cream which can later cause lumps and cause blockage in the piping bag

Whip the cream

• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment - whip the cream. You want nice stiff peaks.
• Combine half the whipped cream to the chilled pastry cream. Use a whisk to ensure you have no lumps. Save the rest of the whipped cream for the top layer.
  Tip - adding whipped cream to the pastry cream will lighten it up. I highly recommend it.
• Transfer both the pasty cream mixture and the whipped cream to two piping bags with star piping nozzles. (you can also use the round piping tips)

Assemble

• Each mille-feuille or napoleon uses three puff pastry pieces. Two rows of pastry cream mixture and one row of whipped cream mixture.
• Place one piece of puff pastry on the serving plate. Pipe two or three lines of pastry cream mixture.
• Top with the second piece of puff pastry and pipe another round of pastry cream mixture.
• Top with the third piece of puff pastry and pipe the whipped cream on the top. Garnish with fresh fruits.

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Frequently asked questions

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You may also like

• Strawberry Mille Feuille - Napoleon
• Classic Mille Feuille - Napoleon
• Homemade Puff Pastry from scratch
• Cream puff or Profiteroles
• Danish Pastry or Croissants

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Printable Recipe