Berry and Creamy White Chocolate and Yogurt Mille Feuille

What is Mille-Feuille?

Mille-Feuille [pronounced meel-fœ-yuh] otherwise know as vanilla slice, custard slice, or Napoleon pastry is a delcious classic French pastry. This one is made with ready made puff pastry for a quick and easy recipe. The filling is creamy and perfect between the buttery layers of puff pastry.  This recipe is so approachable and read on to see how versatile it is.

How is traditional Mille-Feuilles made?

Traditionally, mille-feuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry, and two layers of crème patisserie or a creamy custard. The top layer is either dusted with powdered sugar or many times it’s top layer is covered with icing - a combination of vanilla and chocolate. This is not a far stretch from a traditional Mille-Feuille but it definitely a simpler version.

What makes this Mille-Feuille easier to make and just as delicious as a traditional one?

First as I mentioned earlier it’s made with store bought ready made puff pastry. This saves on time and effort and a good quality ready made puff is just so handy to have in the freezer and perfect in this mille-feuillle. It’s buttery and crisp and requires so little work and effort to make. Just a little rolling and then some slicing and baking and you have your buttery crispy mille-feuille layers. Another thing that makes this easier than a traditional one is that I skipped the custard and made a simple White Chocolate & Yogurt Filling.

The creamy White Chocolate & Yogurt layer

The filling is creamy, sweet and has a slight tang from the yoghurt and a nice lemony infusion from the lemon zest in it. It’s made with a little gelatin which helps it set and stabilizes it making it easier to pipe and work with. It’s a lot easier to make than a custard and a little lighter - not as rich. It can easily be made ahead of time, making the whole process quicker. I like to make the filling the day before I want to serve it. That way after your puff pastry cools you’re ready to pipe and serve. This creamy layer is delicious but if you want to keep things even simpler and lighter you could simply use a stabilized vanilla whip- the one on the blog is simple to make and would make a very light filling for a mille-feuille.

The pastry layer

The pastry layer is crispy and buttery and just what you want in a pastry like this. Ready made puff pastry makes this recipe quick, easy and approachable to make. I like slicing my puff before baking but another option is to bake it whole and then slice later. Either way is fine I just think it’s easier to slice before. Sure your pieces may not bake up with the most perfect edges but it will save you from stressing over broken pieces while slicing them after. If you are up to making your own puff pastry from scratch all the power to you. Feel free to use you own batch in place of store bought.

The berry layer

The berry layer is so versatile. You can use any fruit or berry your prefer. I used whole berries because they look so pretty but this would be so delicious with macerated strawberries or a nice compote made from any fruit drizzled over it. You can also add fruit in between the layers too. I have made these with a layer of fruit jelly over the puff pastry and then pipe on the filling. There’s so many variations and combos of fruit flavours you could use and enjoy. So feel free to experiment. These are beautiful and look so fancy to serve but really and truly they are simple and fun to make and a lot more doable than you might think. If I can you can!!

Recipe

Servings: Serves 8

Prep Time: 20 mins

Set time for cream: 2-3 hours (can be made ahead)

Bake Time: 17-20 mins

Assembly: 10 mins

Total time: 2 hrs and 50 min - 3 hrs and 50 min

Ingredients

For the Pastry

• One 400 gram box of puff pastry
  

For the White Chocolate & Yogurt Filling

• 2 tablespoons water, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
• 1 lemon zested
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 160 grams/6 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup plain full-fat Greekstyle yoghurt strained (overnight over a lined metal siege over a bowl)
  

Directions

1. To make the filling, pour the water into a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the top, and let stand until the gelatin blooms and absorbs the water, about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the sugar to a medium saucepan and use your fingertips to rub the lemon zest into sugar to infuse it. Add the cream, and place over medium-hight heat, and bring the mixture to just under a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and add the white chocolate and gelatin. Stir gently with until the chocolate has melted and gelatin dissolves, just a couple of min. Take the pan off the heat, add then add yogurt, and whisk until smooth.
3. Scrape the filling into a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until set, about 2-3 hours. (The filling will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. So it’s easy to make ahead - just whisk until smooth before using)
4. Once ready make the puff pastry layers: preheat the oven to 400°F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide your puff pastry in half, and roll one half out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle - or over parchment paper (about the size of the baking sheet) about ¼ inch thick.
5. Trim edges of pastry with a pastry wheel or knife so the edges are straight. Repeat with the second piece of puff pastry. Once trimmed transfer each rectangle to a sheetpan
6. Cut each of the sheets into 12 rectangles (about 2 x 4 inches – you can eyeball it or use a ruler like I did to mark your cuts - watch me do it in the video linked) Prick the rectangles well with a fork all over.
7. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of each pan of pastry rectangles. Place another baking sheet on top of the parchment – this helps weigh the pastry down during baking so it doesn’t puff up too much.
8. Bake the pastry layers for 13-15 minutes, then remove the top baking sheet and parchment and bake for 4-5 minutes more, until they are very golden brown. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.
9. To assemble, place filling in a piping bag and then place one layer of puff pastry on a plate or serving platter. Pipe dots of filling all over the pastry, then top with another layer. Repeat until there’s three layers of pastry and three layers of filling, then arrange berries on top.
10. Repeat with the remaining pastry, filling, and berries. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 5 hours until ready to serve.