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Finished mille-feuille slice on a white plate with a fork.

Mille-Feuille Recipe

Light pastry, smooth cream, and a sweet finish make this Mille-Feuille a dessert you’ll want to save for any gathering. Bake it today and serve it with fresh fruit or coffee.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Author: Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 12 pieces puff pastry – 10×4 cm – 4×1.5 inch, 3 mm – 0.1 inch thick, thawed
  • Icing sugar

Filling

Fondant Icing and Decoration

  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 175 g – 6 oz icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp dark chocolate – melted

Instructions

Pastry

  1. Prick the rectangles of puff pastry with a fork so they do not puff up while baking.

  2. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cover them with a silicone mat (or another sheet of baking paper and a heavy baking tray) to stop them from puffing up too much.

  3. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C – 400°F for 15 minutes. Then remove the top tray and baking paper, sprinkle the pastry with icing sugar, and return it to the oven (uncovered) to brown and caramelise for another 5 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it at this stage, as the sugar can burn.
  4. Remove from the oven and let the puff pastry rectangles cool on a wire rack.

Filling

  1. Once the pastry has cooled, begin assembling the mille-feuille.
  2. Transfer the crème pâtissière to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle (or use a reusable bag with the end snipped).

  3. Pipe enough crème pâtissière to cover 4 puff pastry rectangles.

  4. Top them with another 4 rectangles and press lightly so they stick to the filling.

  5. Pipe more crème pâtissière over the 4 pastries and top with the remaining 4 rectangles. Press lightly again to help them adhere.

  6. Refrigerate while you prepare the icing.

Fondant Icing and Decoration

  1. Melt the chocolate and transfer it to a piping bag (or a plastic bag with the corner snipped), fitted with a small round nozzle. Keep the bag upright in a glass or other tall container.
  2. To make the icing, whisk the egg white, lemon juice, and icing sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. The mixture should be thick enough to leave trails on the surface. If it is too thin, whisk in a bit more icing sugar.
  3. Take the pastries out of the fridge and pour the icing over the top of the mille-feuille, spreading it evenly (or remove the top pastry layers and dip them into the icing).
  4. Working quickly, pipe thin lines of chocolate across the width of each pastry.
  5. Use a toothpick or sharp knife to gently drag straight lines from top to bottom through the chocolate to create the pattern.
  6. Chill for a couple of hours to allow the icing to set and the flavours to develop.
  7. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

  • You will have more icing than you need, so keep the extra for glazing sugar cookies or a small batch of pastries.
  • You can make mille-feuilles a day in advance and keep them chilled. The layers hold well, though the pastry gradually loses its crisp texture.