Apparently these are also known as "strawberry Napoleons", but I've only ever heard them called "mille-feuilles" (lit. "1000 leaves/sheets) which is a reference to the layers of puff pastry used to sandwich the filling.

You can do them with all sorts of different flavours, but I had a recipe for this strawberry and whipped cream version and we had all the ingredients on hand already, so that made it an easy choice. And they were a big hit all 'round! A bit messy to eat, maybe, but nobody seemed to mind that terribly much. They were all devoured in very short order.

I was worried about being short of filling, so I whipped a full cup of cream (even though we didn't have the full 450g of pastry that the recipe called for). In retrospect, I think that 3/4 c. probably would have been sufficient. But no one seemed to mind the extra cream. I also didn't worry too much about making them neat and tidy. And I skipped the dusting of icing sugar. I'm sure it would have been a nice finishing touch on a neatly made set of mille-feuilles, but I wasn't too worried about it for these ones. We just wanted to tuck in and enjoy!

Strawberry Mille-Feuilles

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 375g puff pastry
• 250g strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream

Directions

1. If the pastry is frozen, thaw it out.
2. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
3. Roll to a thickness of ~3mm trying to keep it as rectangular as possible. Aim for a shape that is ~20x30cm (or slightly smaller).
4. Trim off any uneven edges and cut the rectangle in half lengthwise (to form two rectangles each a bit under 10cm wide).
5. Cut each piece of dough crosswise into pieces 4-5cm wide.
6. Place the small rectangles of dough onto the prepared baking sheets and prick each one 3-4 times with a fork.
7. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes, rotating halfway through.
8. Meanwhile, toss the strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice and set aside.
9. Once the pastry is puffed and crisp, remove from oven and allow to cool.
10. Meanwhile, beat the cream until soft peaks form.
11. Carefully fold the strawberries and any accumulated juices into the whipped cream.
12. Once the pastry is cool, spoon a generous portion onto half of the pieces, then top with the remaining pieces of pastry.
13. Dust with icing sugar if desired and serve.