Millefeuille à la Crème Chantilly (Thousand Layers with Whipped Cream)

Millefeuille à la Crème Chantilly

This evening after dinner, I had a sudden desire to whip cream. So I took out a packet of panna fresca from the fridge and started to whip it up. It took me twice as long to whip up Italian cream than the German ones, but the result wasn't too bad, I was quite happy having whipped cream once again (though bad luck to the diet).

In addition to the need to whip cream, I also felt the need to bake (again). So I turned on the oven, took a peep in my fridge and decided to make us some Millefeuille à la Crème Chantilly. Hubby started to whinge, "But it's so fattening, we still have the Apple Cake..." though the kids jumped with joy whipped cream and puff pastry being quite their idea of nice food.

Making the Millefeuille pastry is the important part though it is really quite easy. I used ready-made puff pastry from the supermarket. Makes 4-5 pastries.

Unroll the puff pastry, sprinkle icing or fine sugar freely all over it. Make holes with a fork. Heat up the oven to 180ºC.

Put the puff pastry in the oven BUT with a metal grill tray on top of it so that the pastry will not be allowed to rise freely during the baking. Bake for 10 minutes.

Take it out and turn the pastry over to its other side. Sprinkle sugar over this side and return the pastry to the oven for another 10 minutes - always with the metal grill tray on top of it. Watch that it doesn't burn, of course. There should be many layers in the pastry when it's done but they must be compactly packed. Let it cool.

Once cooled, cut the pastry as you wish, into round shapes or rectangles or whatever. Sprinkle icing sugar over each layer that you use and then fill it up as you wish e.g. with crème patissière, fruit (goes beautifully with strawberries and raspberries), whipped cream etc. Very versatile, yummy and presentable dessert. The guy who wanted to watch his fat and sugar intake complained that I didn't include raspberries in the pastry...

Now I have to go do some ironing. Tomorrow we leave early for the Mugello race track where the Ferrari 2007 Finali Mondiali races will be held. We are fortunate (actually depends on how you look at things - e.g. less freedom) to be personally invited by the Company's President to join him in the VIP stand. I look like a dumpling in almost anything at the moment, and so will have to hide myself in a pair of loose woollen pants and a sweater. And that stupid pair of pants needs to be ironed. Just my luck.