Steps to make millefeuille with pastry cream, raspberries and mint

• I start with the preparation of the pastry cream, often the evening before using it for desserts, so that it can be cold and well set. I take a saucepan and break the two eggs into it, add the amount of sugar and work with a hand whisk, or if you prefer the electric mixer, until you get a nice frothy and thick cream. Then I add the flour, or cornstarch or potato starch if you prefer, the two tablespoons of lemon juice and the grated zest of an edible lemon. I work well to avoid lumps.

  Then I place the saucepan on the stove on a medium-low flame and start stirring with the hand whisk, gradually adding the room-temperature whole milk. It is essential that the milk is not cold to avoid temperature shocks during the preparation of the homemade pastry cream.

  The cream will take about 5 minutes to thicken; during this time I always stir with the hand whisk to avoid lumps or sticking to the bottom. Once ready, I turn off the heat and continue stirring for about another 5 minutes. I transfer the grandma’s pastry cream into a small bowl and let it cool on the kitchen counter at room temperature for at least a couple of hours, covered with a slightly damp tea towel. Then I put the bowl with the cream in the refrigerator after covering the surface with plastic wrap.

  

• Now that the cream is ready, I can proceed with assembling the actual dessert with raspberries. As mentioned in the video recipe above, I prepared the cream the night before and let it rest in the fridge overnight.

  I take the three ready-made puff pastry sheets for millefeuille and place them on the work surface together with the raspberries already washed and patted dry, the mint leaves and the lemon. So everything is within reach while building the millefeuille layers. I also place the necessary tools on the counter: the piping bag with a large tip, the knife to cut the raspberries in half that I will use to fill the layers, and the hand grater for the lemon zest. And of course I get the bowl with the cream from the fridge.

  I transfer the cream into the piping bag using a spatula or a spoon. Make sure to use a large tip to distribute the cream. I place one pastry sheet on a serving plate, and begin to pipe small rosettes of pastry cream here and there on the surface of the puff pastry. I cut the raspberries in half and arrange them, trying to distribute them evenly as well.

  

• I continue the same way with the second layer, then reach the third, where instead I preferred to spread more cream and leave the raspberries whole. Simple aesthetic taste, of course. Remember I had to photograph it for the blog as well as serve a lovely indulgent dessert to my family. My cousin’s twins were very happy and devoured it for snack with grandma.

  I then placed a few mint leaves and grated the zest of an edible lemon to give more flavor and taste to this fruit dessert. I didn’t add powdered sugar: the cream absorbs it quickly and it didn’t make much sense to me. If you prefer, just before serving this millefeuille, you can dust it with powdered sugar.

  I can only wish you a good appetite and remind you that I wait for you every day here in my kitchen with many easy, quick and delicious recipes like this one!