Napoleons With Black Raspberries Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry to a 10-by-15-inch rectangle. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Prick pastry all over with a fork. Cover completely with another sheet of parchment paper; weight with another baking sheet (same size or slightly smaller) to prevent pastry from puffing up unevenly. Bake, occasionally pressing top sheet down, until pastry is golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove top sheet and parchment, and let pastry cool.
• Transfer pastry to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, carefully trim and discard edges; cut into 12 equal pieces.
• Dividing evenly, put a large dollop of pudding (2 to 3 tablespoons) on 8 of the 12 pastry pieces; top with raspberries and a little more pudding.
• Assemble napoleons on serving plates: For each napoleon, stack two pieces of pastry already topped with pudding and raspberries, then top with a plain piece. Dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.
• Make Raspberry Sauce (optional): In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup raspberry jam and 1 tablespoon water; pass through a fine-mesh sieve. Thin with additional water if needed.
• Garnish plate with Raspberry Sauce, if desired.

Steps:

• Prepare the Puff Pastry.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle work surface with sugar. Roll dough into a rectangle 1/8 inch thick and, using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, cut in half. Cut each half into thirds, keeping rectangles equal sized, each approximately 6 inches by 8 inches. Water-spray two baking sheets and place pastry rectangles on them. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Prick rectangles all over with fork tines. Place a wire rack over each set of pastry rectangles and bake until pastry reaches the top of the rack, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove rack and continue to bake until golden and evenly browned, about 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool completely on racks.
• Make pastry cream: Scald the milk, vanilla bean, and 1/4 cup sugar. Beat egg yolks with remaining sugar until thick. Sprinkle in flour and cornstarch, and continue beating until well mixed.
• Remove vanilla bean from milk. Beat half of the hot milk into yolk mixture. Return this to remaining hot milk and bring to a boil quickly, whisking very fast to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool. Rub top of pastry cream with butter to prevent a skin from forming. Cover with plastic wrap and cool completely. Immediately before using, fold in softly whipped cream with a wooden spoon.
• To assemble, slice each rectangle horizontally. Place each bottom half on a serving plate. Top with a 1/2-inch layer of pastry cream and berries. Place the top half on top of berries and repeat process with remaining rectangles. Sprinkle top layer with confectioners' sugar. Garnish with berries and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Unfold the puff pastry and place 1 sheet on each of 2 baking sheets. Top each with another sheet of parchment weighed down with a baking sheet topped with a ceramic baking dish. Bake until the pastry is crisp and golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and switch the oven to broil. Carefully cut each puff pastry sheet with a serrated knife into 9 rectangles, each about 2-by-5 inches; dust the tops with superfine sugar. Bake the pastry, uncovered, until crisp and caramelized, watching carefully and rotating the baking sheets--this is quick, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Alternatively, you can use a kitchen torch. Remove from the oven and let cool on wire racks. Transfer the cooled pastry to a cutting board.
• In a large bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the melted chocolate, butter, cream cheese, the 4 cups confectioners' sugar and the vanilla until light and fluffy. Color as desired with the food coloring then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe round little blobs onto 6 of the pastry rectangles, covering the surface. Top with 6 more of the rectangles and repeat the piping. Top with the remaining 6 rectangles. Set a metal offset spatula over the center crosswise of each napoleon and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Garnish each with 2 to 3 raspberries and a small edible flower.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet on a floured work surface until it is 1/4-inch thick. Cut into 16 squares. Transfer to a baking sheet and prick all over with a fork. Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned on the top and bottom, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool, about 10 minutes.
• Combine cream cheese, white sugar, heavy cream, and lemon zest in a bowl. Mix by hand until smooth and glossy. Dollop cream cheese mixture over 16 squares. Spread out cream cheese mixture and cover with raspberries. Top with the remaining puff pastry squares and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Place puff pastry on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and poke holes all over surface using the tines of a fork; top with a second piece of parchment paper. Place 2 baking sheets on top of parchment paper to weigh down; transfer to oven. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove puff pastry from oven and uncover; let cool completely. Using a 3 1/4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut six hearts from puff pastry, reserving scraps.
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip with pastry cream. Place 1 heart-shaped piece of puff on each of two dessert plates. Pipe pastry cream over the surface of each heart, almost to the edge. Place raspberries around the perimeter of the pastry cream. Top each with a second puff pastry heart and repeat process. Top each with a third puff pastry heart.
• Crumble a little of the reserved puff pastry scraps and top Napoleons with crumbs. Dust tops with confectioners' sugar and pipe a little pastry cream in the center of each. Top with a raspberry and serve immediately.

Steps:

• For Phyllo Squares:
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil 2 large baking sheets. Stack phyllo sheets on work surface. Trim to 10 1/2-inch square (reserve scraps for another use). Place 1 phyllo square on work surface (cover remaining phyllo with plastic wrap and damp kitchen towel). Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Top with second phyllo square. Brush lightly with melted unsalted butter. Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Top with third phyllo square. Sprinkle with 1 generous teaspoon sugar. Cut phyllo stack into 9 equal stacked squares. Arrange stacked phyllo squares an prepared baking sheet. Repeat layering and cutting with remaining 3 phyllo sheets, sugar and butter making total of 18 stacked phyllo squares. Bake until phyllo is golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to racks and cool completely.
• For Lemon Cream:
• Beat cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl until medium peaks form. Whisk lemon curd in another medium bowl until smooth. Add to cream mixture. Beat to stiff peaks.
• Spread 1 generous tablespoon lemon cream on each of 6 stacked phyllo squares. Top each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 6 raspberries. Layer each with 1 phyllo square, 1 more tablespoon lemon cream and 6 raspberries (save any remaining lemon cream for another use). Top each with 1 phyllo square. Sift powdered sugar over desserts. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover loosely and refrigerate).