1-2 sheets puff pastry
1 punnet strawberries, washed and sliced in half.
200ml full cream milk, plus 1 tsp extra
4 tsp caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and beans scraped
3 tbsp cornflour
2 eggs (one for the filling, another for an egg wash)
100ml whipped cream
icing sugar for dusting
Filling:
In a saucepan, over low to medium heat, bring the milk, 3 tbsp sugar and vanilla beans to a gentle simmer.
In another bowl, add the egg, remaining sugar and whisk until smooth. Then add the cornflour and 1 tsp of milk to thin, and whisk until the mixture becomes smooth and consistent. Add this mixture to the milk stirring constantly for about 3 minutes, or until the custard thickens.
Take saucepan off the heat and beat in the whipped cream, until fully incorporated in the custard.
Pour into another bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill.
Puff Pastry:
Preheat oven to 190°C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Meanwhile, roll pastry sheets out onto a lightly floured surface until they are approximately 2mm in thickness. Cut out identical sized rectangles from the pastry and dust lightly with flour. Pierce each piece with a fork a few times, and brush with the egg wash.Lay each piece of pastry on a prepared baking sheet and dust with some icing sugar.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry has browned.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and place straight onto a wire rack to cool so that pastry does not puff up.
Assemble the mille-feuille:
Take the filling out of the refrigerator.
Take a layer of puff pastry as your base, and then spread a layer of custard on top. Place on a serving plate.
After, line this layer with strawberries.
Alternating between layers of puff pastry, custard and strawberries, build until you have three layers of pastry,
Dust the tops of the mille-feuille with some icing sugar and decorate with some fresh strawberries on the side.