Mille-feuille with diplomat cream and Frédéric's strawberries

Ingredients

4 servings

• 1 piece of brown sugar
• 25 g of butter
• 1 piece of icing sugar
• 150 g of phyllo dough
• 250 g of strawberries
• 200 ml of liquid cream
• 40 g of egg yolk
• 250 ml of milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 pieces of gelatin leaves
• 75 g of sugar
• 25 g of cornstarch

Steps

1. 1

   Soften the gelatin sheets in a large bowl of very cold water.

2. 2

   Whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar until the mixture turns pale. Add the cornstarch and whisk again.

3. 3

   Boil the milk with the split and scraped vanilla bean. Pour the milk over the eggs while whisking vigorously. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook until boiling, stirring constantly.

4. 4

   Pour the pastry cream into a clean dish, add the softened gelatin. Stir vigorously and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface. Refrigerate the pastry cream for at least 3 hours.

5. 5

   Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). For the filo dough: Melt the butter in the microwave. Using a brush, butter a sheet of filo dough, then cover with a second sheet. Repeat the process 3 times. Cut the filo stack to the desired size, sprinkle with sugar and bake for 4 minutes.

6. 6

   Take the cold pastry cream and whisk it for a few moments to regain its smoothness. Whip the very cold heavy cream into soft peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream. Your diplomat cream is ready to use.

7. 7

   Assemble by piping the cream onto a square of filo dough, add pieces of strawberries and repeat once more. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the last layer of filo dough.