Mil-folhas de Padaria

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rimmed baking sheet
• •Second baking sheet for weighting the pastry
• •Parchment paper
• •Rolling pin
• •Medium saucepan
• •Whisk
• •Serrated knife
• •Fine sieve for powdered sugar

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven

   Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a baking sheet with parchment. Keep the puff pastry in the fridge until the oven is ready, because warm pastry smears instead of rising into clean, crisp layers. Butter needs to hit the heat cold. Anota aí.

2. 2

   Roll and sugar

   Set the cold pastry on the parchment and roll it gently into a rectangle about 10 by 14 inches. Sprinkle the top with 2 tablespoons sugar and press it in with the rolling pin. You want a thin, even sheet, not a wrestling match. Even thickness bakes evenly, and uneven pastry gives you one burnt corner and one soft corner sulking on the same tray.

3. 3

   Bake it flat

   Cover the pastry with another sheet of parchment and set a second baking sheet on top as a weight. Bake for 18 minutes, then remove the top tray and parchment. Bake 8 to 12 minutes more, until the pastry is deeply golden, dry to the touch, and crisp at the edges. The weight keeps it from puffing into a pillow, because mil-folhas needs crisp sheets you can stack, not a balloon you have to chase around the counter.

   If the center still looks pale, give it a few more minutes. Pale puff pastry tastes floury and soft. Golden pastry tastes like butter did its job.
4. 4

   Cut the layers

   Let the pastry cool for 10 minutes, then trim the edges with a serrated knife and cut it into 3 equal rectangles. Use a gentle sawing motion, not a heavy press. Press down hard and you'll crush the layers you just worked to keep crisp.

5. 5

   Warm the milk

   Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and warm it over medium heat until tiny bubbles gather at the edge. Don't boil it hard. Hot milk loosens the egg mixture and helps the cream thicken smoothly, while boiling milk makes the whole thing feel rushed and bossy.

6. 6

   Whisk the yolks

   In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt until thick, pale, and smooth. Whisk until you don't see dry cornstarch hiding at the bottom. Dry pockets turn into lumps in the pan, and then you start blaming the recipe. Not today.

7. 7

   Temper the eggs

   Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the yolk mixture while whisking constantly, then whisk in another 1/2 cup. Pour the warmed yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk. This slow mixing teaches the eggs the heat before they meet the pan, so they thicken into cream instead of scrambling into sweet little bits. I have made the sweet little bits. We move on.

8. 8

   Cook the cream

   Cook over medium heat, whisking all the time, until the cream thickens, bubbles in slow heavy pops, and the whisk leaves tracks that hold for a second. Keep cooking for 1 full minute after it bubbles. That minute matters because cornstarch needs heat to lose its raw taste and set properly. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla until glossy.

9. 9

   Chill the cream

   Scrape the cream into a shallow bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface. Chill until cold and firm, at least 1 hour. The wrap keeps a skin from forming, and the shallow bowl cools it fast. Warm cream slides out of the pastry like it has somewhere better to be.

10. 10

    Smooth and stack

    Whisk the cold cream until smooth. Set one pastry rectangle on a board, spread half the cream evenly to the edges, top with the second rectangle, spread the rest of the cream, and finish with the third rectangle. Spread evenly, not thick in the middle, because the knife will push any hill into a landslide.

11. 11

    Chill and finish

    Chill the assembled mil-folhas for 30 minutes so the cream settles and the layers grip. Dust the top generously with powdered sugar just before serving. Slice with a serrated knife, using short gentle strokes. The top will crack a little. Good. That's pastry, not plastic.

Chef Tips

• •Use all-butter puff pastry if you can. The shortcut is fair because puff pastry is a project, and a Tuesday is a Tuesday. The cost is that you surrender some control over flavor and thickness, so buy the simplest ingredient list you can find.
• •Do not use powdered pastry cream. That's not a shortcut, that's imitation food wearing a nice hat. Real creme de confeiteiro is milk, yolks, sugar, cornstarch, butter, and vanilla. Ten minutes at the stove and you actually know what you're eating.
• •Bake the pastry darker than you think, golden all the way through. Underbaked puff pastry goes soft fast once the cream touches it, and then you have sweet layers with no bite.
• •Assemble close to serving when you can. The pastry is crispest the first day. Leftovers still taste good the next day, but the cream softens the layers. That's not failure, that's physics.
• •If you want cleaner slices for a dinner party, chill the finished pastry for 45 minutes and wipe the knife between cuts. If it's just family, slice it and eat. A gente doesn't need a ruler for dessert.

Advance Preparation

• •The pastry cream can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface.
• •The puff pastry can be baked and cut 1 day ahead. Store it uncovered or loosely covered at room temperature so it stays dry, not sealed where it will soften.
• •Assemble the mil-folhas up to 2 hours before serving. Dust with powdered sugar only at the end, because sugar melts into the pastry if it sits too long.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 130g)