Recipes for "napoleons"

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Roll out 3 sheets of puff pastry, each to the same size and a thickness of 1/8 inch. Prick with a fork, and place on baking sheets.

Bake in preheated oven until golden, about 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch and 1/2 cup milk with your fingers until smooth. Stir in cake flour and half of the sugar. Beat in egg yolks. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring remaining milk and remaining sugar to a rolling boil. Stir in egg yolk mixture; continue stirring and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Let cool.

In a small saucepan or in the microwave, heat jam until runny.

Place one sheet of pastry on a board. Spread with cooled pastry cream to a thickness of 1/2 inch. Place a second pastry sheet over cream. Brush with fruit glaze. Spread remaining pastry cream over glaze. Top with final pastry sheet and gently compress layers, using a baking sheet to press.

To make icing, beat together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice with enough egg whites to make a creamy consistency like that of a cream soup. Working quickly, color a small portion of frosting with red food coloring. Frost the top and sides of the assembled pastry with white icing. Pipe parallel lines of red icing on top of the dessert, then draw a pick or knife crosswise through icing to make the traditional design. Let icing set before cutting into bars.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Combine pudding mix and cold milk; fold in whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Unfold pastry on a cool, lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along fold marks, then cut each strip into four equal pieces. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet, and cool.

Split pastries into 2 layers, setting the 8 best looking tops aside. Spread 8 bottom layers with dollops of the pudding mixture. Top each with a layer of strawberries, a small amount of pudding, and another pastry layer. (A small amount of the pudding mix on top of the berries will help keep the layers together.) Spread with remaining pudding mixture and strawberries, and top with remaining pastry layers (the best looking ones). Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet on a floured work surface until it is 1/4-inch thick. Cut into 16 squares. Transfer to a baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheet.

Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned on the top and bottom, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool, about 10 minutes.

Combine cream cheese, white sugar, heavy cream, and lemon zest in a bowl. Mix by hand until smooth and glossy. Dollop cream cheese mixture over 16 squares. Spread out cream cheese mixture and cover with raspberries. Top with the remaining puff pastry squares and dust with confectioners' sugar.

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, stevia, cornstarch, nutmeg, and salt. Add yolks and stir until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, bring milk to a simmer. Slowly whisk about half the milk into the yolk mixture, then whisk yolk mixture into remaining milk in saucepan. Place back on heat and cook, stirring constantly, just until thickened. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl and stir in butter and rum.

Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on surface of pastry cream and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together sugar and stevia. Lay out phyllo dough in a stack on a flat surface and cover with a dry kitchen towel, then a damp kitchen towel.

Place 1 sheet of phyllo in front of you, brush lightly with butter, and sprinkle lightly with sugar-stevia mixture. Place another phyllo sheet on top and brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar-stevia mixture. Repeat this layering until there are 8 layers of phyllo, then brush top layer with butter and sprinkle with sugar-stevia mixture.

Cut phyllo lengthwise in half to make 2 long rectangles. Cut rectangles crosswise every 2 inches. Transfer as many of the rectangles as possible to a large baking sheet, leaving a little space between them. Nest another baking sheet of the same size on top so the phyllo rectangles are pressed between the baking sheets.

Bake until browned and crisp, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely and repeat with any remaining phyllo rectangles, baking and cooling them completely.

In a medium bowl, beat cream until stiffly whipped. Stir pastry cream just until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

To assemble, lay 1/3 of the phyllo rectangles on a countertop in front of you. Spread a layer of pastry cream over each rectangle, then top with another phyllo rectangle. Spread another layer of pastry cream over phyllo, then top with a final phyllo rectangle. There should be 3 phyllo layers and 2 pastry cream layers.

Dust each Napoleon with a little grated nutmeg and serve immediately.