Tompouce

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two baking trays for weighing the pastry flat
• •Parchment paper
• •Whisk
• •Small piping bag or spoon
• •Serrated knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Bake the pastry

   Heat the oven to 200C. Lay the puff pastry sheets on a parchment-lined tray, prick them all over with a fork, cover with another sheet of parchment, and set a second tray on top. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the top tray and bake 5 to 8 minutes more until deeply golden and dry to the touch. Flat pastry is the point here; height belongs in the cream, not in a tompouce roof.

2. 2

   Cut the layers

   While the pastry is still warm but no longer fragile, trim the edges and cut each sheet into 8 equal rectangles, about 10 by 5 centimetres. You need 16 rectangles total: 8 bottoms and 8 lids. Use a serrated knife and short strokes, because puff pastry rewards patience and punishes sawing like firewood.

3. 3

   Make the custard

   Warm the milk with the vanilla until just below a simmer. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until pale and smooth. Pour in the hot milk slowly while whisking, then return everything to the pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens and gives slow, heavy bubbles. Whisk in the butter. This is banketbakkersroom, pastry cream, and it must be thick enough to hold its manners.

4. 4

   Chill the cream

   Scrape the custard into a shallow dish, press parchment or plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and chill until cold and firm, at least 1 hour. Whisk it briefly before using so it becomes smooth again. If it runs from the spoon, it is not ready; give it more cold and let time do the work.

5. 5

   Glaze the lids

   Stir the icing sugar with 2 tablespoons hot water, the pink colouring, and the redcurrant jelly or raspberry syrup if using. Add more water drop by drop until the glaze spreads slowly but does not run like rainwater. Spoon it over 8 pastry lids and let it set for 15 minutes. Glaze first, assemble second. This is not fussiness, it is self-defence.

6. 6

   Fill and assemble

   Pipe or spoon a thick, even layer of pastry cream onto the 8 unglazed pastry bases. Set the glazed lids on top with a gentle hand and square the edges with a small palette knife if you like. Chill for 30 minutes before serving so the cream settles, but eat the same day while the pastry still answers crisply under the fork.

Chef Tips

• •Use all-butter puff pastry. Margarine pastry can look obedient, but it lacks the clean butter taste that keeps the tompouce from becoming only sugar and cream.
• •For Koningsdag, King's Day, colour the glaze orange instead of pink. Same pastry, different flag, and the whole country understands without explanation.
• •There is no settled etiquette for eating one. I cut the glazed lid first, then eat downward in small squares. A purist may object. They usually have cream on their sleeve.
• •Make the custard thick. Thin banketbakkersroom turns the pastry into a negotiation, and nobody wins.

Advance Preparation

• •The pastry cream can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator; whisk it smooth before filling.
• •The puff pastry can be baked earlier the same day and kept uncovered at room temperature so it stays crisp.
• •Assemble no more than 4 hours before serving. After that the cream begins softening the pastry, which is honest but less glorious.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 160g)