Strawberry Mille-Feuille with Earl Grey Custard

A classic French pastry composed of crispy layers of puff pastry, fresh strawberries, and a custard cream that’s strongly infused with earl grey flavours. Perfect for summer picnics, or afternoon tea.

Mille-Feuille can also be known as Napoleon. Both have the same concept, except pastry cream is used in mille-feuille instead. You’ll often find these at a fancy French inspired cafe, or during English afternoon tea sessions. Whenever I would go to a fancy buffet, or go for an afternoon tea session, this dessert would always be there. I would admire the layers, because it always looked so delicate.

When I entered the world of baking, I realized that this delicate dessert was actually super simple to make. It just consists of pastry cream and layers of puff pastry – you can easily buy this in the grocery store (sorry, but I won’t make puff pastry from scratch because it is too much work when I can easily buy one for a few dollars). For the pastry cream, I wanted to make something special yet GOOD. My homemade earl grey custard cream is essential for this dessert, and also something you must try, because I can guarantee you that it has a STRONG earl grey flavour, and is super easy to make.

Make this next time to wow your guests, or have a nice afternoon tea session at home with all these pretty desserts.

Ingredients

• 300g puff pastry
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Earl grey custard
• Fresh strawberries (sliced in halves)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to a large rectangular shape with a thickness of 2mm. Cut off the edges to shape it into a straight rectangle.

3. Poke holes all over the puff pastry using a fork. Place a piece of parchment paper over it, and an oven-safe wire rack on top (this prevents the puff pastry from puffing up so much). Freeze for 5 minutes (puff pastry works better when it’s cold!).
4. Remove from the freezer and bake for 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
5. Sprinkle sugar on top of the puff pastry and bake until the sugar has melted and the puff pastry turns golden brown. Keep a close eye to prevent it from burning! Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
6. Cut the puff pastry to 6 even rectangles.
7. Pipe the earl grey custard cream on one piece of puff pastry, then place strawberries on top. Pipe another layer of custard cream on top, and then cover with another piece of puff pastry. Repeat for another layer. Serve and enjoy!

If you do try out this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and/or give it a rating! I’d also love to see your creations so don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!