Strawberry and Lemon Millefeuille
By: Francois De Melogue
Tags: Lemon, Recipe, Dessert, French Food, Berries

The Infinite Versatility of Lemon Curd

I love the versatility of food. And I am not talking about the endless online articles expounding the virtues of instant ramen noodles. Did you know they can be used to create everything from a savory breakfast to the perfect chocolatey dessert?

Rather I am talking about how you can make one simple preparation and then use it for several other dishes. Thereby you intelligently reduce the amount of time you actually spend in the kitchen and add some serious curb appeal to your meals.

Strawberry and Lemon Millefeuille, photo by Francois de Melogue

Recently I wrote a post about Nun’s Farts and 4 other glorious uses for choux paste, or pâte à choux in French. Choux paste can make profiteroles, eclairs, gougeres, and even can be mixed with mashed potatoes to make pommes Dauphine or potato puffs. It takes barely any more time to make a single batch as it does a double batch. Try making a fun dessert with half then mix the other half with potatoes. Versatility is the key.

Last week I made a seriously delicious blackberry milkshake with a lemon curd spiked whipped cream. My recipe for lemon curd ended up being way more than I needed for the shakes so I started thinking of what else I could make with it. I ended up with a fresh lemon tart and this strawberry and lemon millefeuille.

Millefeuille (pronounced meal foy), or thousand layers, is a rich dessert of several layers of crispy crunchy puff pastry layered with a pastry cream filling and/or fruit. In my version, I layered lemon curd, whipped cream, and ripe strawberries. If you do not have strawberries use other berries or even no berries.

Strawberry and Lemon Mille Feuille

A quick and easy dessert for when you want to impress your friends and family

Prep Time 10 minutes; Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry cut into 2 inch by 4 inch rectangle, see notes

1 large egg beat

1 cup lemon curd

1 cup whipped cream

1-pint ripe strawberries

1/4 cup confectioners sugar optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay the semi-frozen puff pastry sheet out onto your counter. Using a sharp knife cut the puff pastry into 2" by 4" rectangles. Brush the tops with the egg and bake for 9 or 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. You can do this step the day before but it is much better prepared the same day. Lay 3 pieces of puff pastry out in front of you. Brush 2 of the pieces each with 1 tablespoon of lemon curd and then 1 tablespoon of whipped cream. Cover the cream/curd layers with sliced strawberries and then top with the last piece of puff pastry. Dust with powdered sugar if you like

Recipe Notes

I know a lot of you are probably stressing about the puff pastry. Use a puff pastry made from 100 percent butter if you can. If not, Pepperidge Farms makes a decent puff pastry that you can find in the frozen aisle of every major grocery store nationwide. Cut rectangles that are 2 inches by four inches, or make any other shape that you like. I have done squares, circles, and triangles before.

Lemon Curd

A delicious lemon curd that tastes great on its own or made into a variety of different desserts

Prep Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

3 lemons zest and juice

4 large eggs

1–1/4 cups granulated sugar

6 ounces unsalted butter

Instructions

Combine zest, juice, eggs, and sugar in a stainless pot and whisk together over a low flame. Cook, whisking constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in butter. Cool.

Recipe Notes

If you accidentally scrambled the eggs simply put the whole mixture into a blender and puree for about 10 seconds.