Strawberry Puff Pastry
Crisp puff pastry stacks layered with vanilla diplomat cream and fresh strawberries. Simple to make and ready in under an hour.
Servings: 10 pieces
Calories: 280kcal
Ingredients
- 1 sheet all butter rolled puff pastry (14"x9" - 35cmx23cm) (11 oz/320 grams)
- 1 cup full fat milk (250 ml)
- 1 tablespoon butter (16 grams)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
- 2 medium egg yolks
- ⅓ cup sugar (80 grams)
- 1 ¾ tablespoon flour (14 grams)
- 2 ⅛ tablespoon cornflour (16 grams)
- ¾ cup heavy cream/double cream (200 ml)
- 9 oz strawberries (cut in small pieces) (250 grams)
- 5 strawberries cut in halves (to garnish)
- icing sugar (to garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 374 ℉/190 °C (fan oven).
- Unroll the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface and cut into 10 equal rectangular pieces (2 of the rectangular might be slightly larger).
- Place them on a tray lined with parchment paper and cook for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Let the cooked puff pastries cool down and start making the creme diplomat.
- Place the milk, butter, and vanilla paste in a saucepan and gently bring to simmer on low heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture becomes pale and thick. Add the flour along with the cornflour and whisk to combine.
- Add half of the hot milk into the flour-egg mixture, whisking well, and return the mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the milk.
- Return the saucepan to heat and cook until it thickens, whisking continuously. Let it boil for a minute stirring continuously then remove from the heat. Let it cool down to room temperature.
- When the pastry cream has reached room temperature, start whipping the double cream or whipping cream until you reach stiff peaks.
- Whisk the pastry cream to loosen then fold in the whipped cream gently in 2 stages.
- Split the puff pastries in half and put 1- 1 ½ tablespoon of diplomat cream on top of the half puff pastry sheet.
- Place a couple of tablespoons of chopped strawberries on top of the diplomat cream and place the other puff pastry sheet on top. Repeat the same for all of the puff pastries.
- Sprinkle on some icing sugar using a small sieve and place a piece of strawberry for garnish.
Video
Notes
- These crisp strawberry puff pastry stacks are easy to make and always a crowd pleaser.
- Fill them with your choice of cream, and swap the strawberries for other berries or bananas when they're not in season.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, though the pastry softens over time.
- Freeze the baked, unfilled pastry rectangles for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and fill just before serving. Don't freeze them once assembled.
- For a dairy-free version, use a dairy-free butter and plant-based milk and cream in the diplomat creme, and check your puff pastry brand is dairy-free.
- The diplomat creme can be made up to a day ahead and stored in the fridge. Give it a good stir before assembling.
- Use fresh, ripe strawberries. Frozen ones release too much liquid and make the filling watery.
- Mix the eggs, cornflour, and sugar together until smooth before adding the hot milk, to avoid lumps in the creme patissiere.
- Chill the diplomat creme before using so it's easier to handle.
- Assemble the pastry stacks just before serving so they don't turn soggy.
Nutrition
Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.05g | Cholesterol: 65mg | Sodium: 86mg | Potassium: 123mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 393IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 1mg