Cream, Strawberry and Hazelnut Millefrolle

The Cream, Strawberry, and Hazelnut Millefrolle is an elegant and delicious dessert. It is a composition of crispy shortcrust pastry, flavored custard, fresh strawberries, and chopped hazelnuts. Here’s how you can prepare it.

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry:

• 300 g of 00 flour
• 150 g of cold butter, cut into cubes
• 120 g of icing sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 yolk
• A pinch of salt
• Grated zest of 1 lemon (organic, if possible)

For the custard:

• 500 ml of whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 100 g of sugar
• 40 g of 00 flour or cornstarch
• 1 vanilla pod or vanilla essence

For the garnish:

• Fresh strawberries (to taste)
• Chopped toasted hazelnuts (to taste)
• Icing sugar (for decoration)

Preparation

1. Start by preparing the shortcrust pastry: in a bowl, mix the flour with the icing sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and work with the fingertips until a sandy texture is obtained.
2. Add the whole egg, the yolk, and the lemon zest, then quickly knead until a ball is formed. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
3. In the meantime, prepare the custard: heat the milk with the slit vanilla pod to release the seeds. In another bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar until a light and frothy mixture is obtained, then add the sifted flour and mix well.
4. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and slowly pour the hot liquid over the yolk mixture, stirring continuously.
5. Transfer everything to a pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the cream thickens. Transfer it to a bowl, cover with cling film making contact with the cream, and let it cool completely.
6. Roll out the shortcrust pastry into a thin sheet and use a pastry cutter or a glass to cut out discs. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 15 minutes or until golden.
7. Once the pastry discs have cooled, proceed to assemble the dessert: spread a spoonful of custard on a pastry disc, add a few slices of strawberry and cover with another pastry disc. Repeat to create as many layers as you like.
8. Finish with a final garnish of custard, strawberries, and sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts.
9. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Curiosity

The Millefrolle is inspired by the classic Mille-feuille cake, but here the play is on the crumbliness of the shortcrust rather than puff pastry. It is a dessert that allows a great deal of creativity in its presentation, and the contrasts of texture between the soft custard, the crispy pastry, and the freshness of the strawberries make it an applause-worthy end to a meal.