JB's Mille-Feuille

This isn't the sad little pastry stack you might find at a café—it's the real deal, made the way French pastry chefs have perfected it for centuries, with luxurious layers of crisp puff pastry cradling thick, silky custard and a glossy fondant top that shatters when you bite into it.

Ingredients:

• 500g all-butter puff pastry
• 250ml whole milk
• 250ml heavy cream
• 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 5 egg yolks
• 50g cornstarch
• 50g caster sugar
• 200g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Method:

1. Roll puff pastry thin, cut into three rectangles, and bake at 200°C for 15–20 minutes until golden and crisp.
2. Warm milk and cream with the split vanilla pod; let it infuse 10 minutes, then strain.
3. Whisk egg yolks with caster sugar until pale, then fold in cornstarch.
4. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, then return to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until thick (about 5 minutes). Cool completely.
5. Layer: pastry, custard, pastry, custard, pastry.
6. Melt icing sugar with water and butter to make fondant; spread over the top layer while warm.

Full recipe at RecipeTin Eats →

Chef's tip: Bake your pastry sheets weighted with a second baking tray on top—this keeps them flat and ensures they puff evenly, giving you those dramatic shattering layers.