If you’re on the hunt for a sweet holiday treat that not only looks impressive but is also easy to make, then you need to try this Chocolate Hazelnut Mille Feuille. Mille Feuille translates to “thousand layers” and as you can probably imagine, this is one seriously flaky dessert. Store-bought puff pastry is baked to a perfect golden brown, then layered with luscious chocolate hazelnut pastry cream made with fairlife ultrafiltered whole milk. fairlife is made with 100% quality Canadian dairy, has 50% less sugar and 50% more protein than regular milk, and you can truly taste the creaminess it adds to the pastry cream. Make the puff pastry and pastry cream a day ahead to take the stress out of entertaining and assemble into cute stacks when you’re ready to serve.
ingredients
Chocolate Hazelnut Pastry Cream
Puff Pastry
Whipped Cream
Glaze
directions
For the chocolate hazelnut pastry cream, place hazelnuts in a food processor or blender and pulse until you have small pieces. Transfer to a saucepan with 2 ½ cups fairlife ultrafiltered whole milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture begins to bubble, remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes. Strain through a cheesecloth or a nut milk bag to remove any small bits. You may need to top up the milk mixture as some of the milk will have simmered off. You’ll need a total of 2 ½ cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Slowly whisk in the hot milk, a little bit at a time to temper the eggs. Once all the milk is mixed in, transfer back to the saucepan and heat over medium, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter, chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Transfer to a bowl (optional: strain through a sieve for a super smooth pastry cream), place plastic wrap directly on top and chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Measure out two pieces of parchment paper to fit two rimmed baking sheets, lining one of the baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.
Lightly flour your work surface and carefully unroll one puff pastry sheet. Gently roll out with a rolling pin into an even square. Cut into 8 rectangles, about 2 ½-inches x 5-inches.
Place the rectangles on the prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Place the second sheet of parchment on top followed by the second baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 14-16 minutes, remove the top baking sheet and parchment paper and bake for another 3-5 minutes or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack. Repeat with second sheet of puff pastry (note: puff pastry will bake quicker if reusing hot pans).
To assemble and serve, stir the chilled pastry cream vigorously for 30 seconds until smooth. Transfer half to a piping bag.
In a large bowl, make the whipped cream by whipping the heavy cream and icing sugar to stiff peaks. Add the whipped cream into the remaining pastry cream and fold to combine. Transfer to a second piping bag.
For the glaze, in a bowl, whisk together the icing sugar and fairlife ultrafiltered whole milk until you get a thick, spreadable consistency. Scoop out ⅔ of the glaze and set aside. Mix in cocoa powder and a splash of milk to the remaining ⅓ to achieve the same consistency. Spread overtop of 5 puff pastry rectangles, using a toothpick to create swirls and designs.
To assemble, pipe small dollops of pastry cream onto 5 puff pastry rectangles, alternating between both pastry creams. Stack another puff pastry on top and repeat with dollops, finishing with glaze-decorated puff pastry.
Garnish with additional hazelnuts and enjoy!
