French Napoleons are so easy to make and delicious to eat
French Napoleons are just one more pastry to make with the Flakey Puff Pastry dough. If you have ever had these from a bakery you know how wonderful they taste. Now, you can make them at home.
French Napoleons
1 recipe of Flakey Puff Pastry
1 recipe of stabilized whipped cream
Fresh fruit of your choice
2 T corn syrup mixed with 2 t water in a small bowl
2 c powdered sugar
milk (a few T)
1/4 c heavy cream
1/2 c chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
Roll the pastry dough out as thin as you can. Cut a piece of the dough the size of a half sheet pan (about 15×10). Line the sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper, put the dough in the pan and stretch it out so it fills the pan.
Place another piece of parchment paper on top and put a second sheet pan on top of that (stacked to act as a weight). Freeze for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, remove from the freezer and place the whole stack (both pans) in the hot oven. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until it is starting to brown. Remove from the oven, flip the pans over and remove the pan and paper that are on top. Brush the top of the pastry with the corn syrup/water solution and return to the oven to bake another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool.
Cut the sheet of baked puff pastry into three 4 x 10 inch pieces. Place one piece on a serving platter.
Pipe 1/2 the recipe of pastry cream in an even layer on top of the pastry. Pipe stabilized whipped cream on top of the pastry cream, layer fruit on top.
Repeat with another piece of pastry, pastry cream, stabilized whipped cream, fruit. Top with the last piece of pastry but turn it upside down so you have a nice flat surface for the top. Mix together the powdered sugar with just enough milk to form a thick icing. Spread the icing thinly over the top of the Napoleon. Heat the cream to boiling and pour over the chocolate chips, stir until melted. Put in a small piping bag and pipe lines of chocolate over the iced Napoleon.
Carefully drag a bamboo skewer through the chocolate as shown going in opposite directions for each pass.
Slice and serve with more whipped cream and fresh fruit.
