This sumptuous strawberry mille-feuille recipe by Michelin-star chef Asimakis Chaniotis is a truly magnificent and decadent dessert. Asimakis, 28, is the executive chef of Pied a Terre, one of the finest London-based restaurants with a coveted Michelin star to its name.
If you fancy honing your dessert skills and impressing your family and friends this summer, learn from the finest and serve up this super light and creamy strawberry mille-feuille.
This recipe makes one restaurant portion, adjust ingredients accordingly.
Puff pastry
Preheat oven to 180c. Grab a sheet of puff pastry (pre-rolled, shop bought is fine) and thin it out with a rolling pin whilst dusting with icing sugar to make it slightly sweeter. Place it between parchment paper and pop in the oven on a tray with something heavy on top so it will not puff and the layers stick together. Cook for around 15-20 mins depending on the performance of your oven or until it is golden brown. When you take it out, one of the most important steps is to cut the cooked puff pastry sheet with a very sharp knife while is still super hot. Cut the sheet in 6cm by 12cm pieces, using three for each dessert.
Crème patisserie
250 gr milk
½ stick of vanilla
3 egg yolks
45 gr sugar
27 gr cornflour
25 gr diced cold butter
4 strawberries in slices
4 strawberries finely chopped
A few tops of lemon verbena
Add milk and vanilla seeds into a pan and bring to the boil, then set aside. Whisk the eggs and sugar vigorously until pale and foamy and then add the cornflour and mix with a spatula. Pour the hot milk in slowly whilst whisking and then put the mix back in the pot and cook under low heat until very thick. Add the cold butter and mix together to make it shiny. Now, cool it down to 4 degrees in the fridge in a container covered with clingfilm. When ready, whip with a whisk and place in a piping bag.
Plating
Place the first piece of puff pastry in the middle of the plate and pipe the crème pat in two rows, covering your sheet. Place a layer of strawberry slices on then place another puff pastry sheet on top and repeat the process.
Using a fine sieve, dust icing sugar on top of the third piece of pastry and place it carefully on top of the dessert.
With a small spoon place the finely chopped strawberries in a circle around the mille-feuille, add a few lemon verbena leaves around the circle and dot some on the crème pat as well.
