French Napoleon Pastry Recipe
Learn all the detailed steps of making the fancy,mouth-watering French Napoleon pastry dessert.
Ingredients
For the rich pastry cream recipe:
- 2 cups of milk
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup of sugar
- ¼ cup of corn starch
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter (need to be cold)
For the Glaze:
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ¼ cup of milk
- ¼ cup of cocoa powder
The pastry:
- 1 package of frozen or homemade pastry
Instructions
The making of the pastry cream:
- In a saucepan put on medium-high heat, add the vanilla and milk, mix well.
- After it boils, remove it from the heat.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch and the sugar.
- Add in the egg yolks and whisk until the mix is fluffy.
- Pour in the hot milk mixture from the saucepan gradually over the egg yolks and cornstarch.
- After mixing the mixture together, transfer it back to the saucepan and put it on medium-high heat. Whisk until it thickens.
- Remove from the heat, then add the butter and stir until it melts in the mix.
- Leave it to cool after covering it with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
Make the pastry layers:
- In the case of using frozen puff pastry sheets, leave it to thaw over night, then unfold one sheet and roll it out to about 1/16 inch.
- Using a kitchen knife, cut 2x4 inch rectangles. Align the layers of puff pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Cover the top of the baking sheet with another parchment paper. Place another baking sheet on top of the parchment paper.
- Bake the puff pastries in a 400F preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until it become a beautiful deep golden brown. Repeat with the rest of the puff pastry.
Making the Glaze:
- Whisk well the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons of milk in a bowl till it has a smooth consistency. Transfer the mix to a piping bag.
- Add the cocoa powder and one tablespoon of milk to 1/3 cup of the glaze in a separate bowl. Whisk it and transfer it to another piping bag.
Assembling the Napoleon dessert:
- Leave 9 pieces of baked puff pastry aside. Spread the chilled pastry cream on the rest of the baked pastries using a piping bag, one by one. After spreading the cream on one layer, cover it with another layer, spread the other layer, and then cover it with another.
- On the 9 pieces left, spread the white glaze on top, then pipe stripes of the dark or white chocolate glaze, and with a toothpick, make the classical chevron pattern by drawing the toothpick along the glaze. These 9 pieces will be the top layer of each Napoleon dessert.
Video
Notes
- Leftovers can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for 6 months.
- It's preferable to chill the pastry cream before spreading it for at least 2 hours.
- If the vanilla pastry cream is too thick, you can add some whipped cream. It will enhance its softness and fluffiness.