Sweet Bastela Recipes

MILLES FEUILLES (NAPOLEON PASTRY)

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: Put 2 1/2 cups milk, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in a small boil to come to the boil.
• Dissolve the corn flour in the remaining milk and pour into hot milk.
• Whisk the corn flour into the milk and turn off heat.
• Beat the egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl and slowly whisk in some of the hot milk into the yolks, whisking all the while.
• Do this until you have incorporated nearly all the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly, to temper the yolks.
• Add any leftover milk mixture and place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard.
• Refrigerate and cool completely.
• For whipped cream: Place all ingredients in mixer bowl and whip until snowy peaks form.
• Remove 1/3 of whipped cream and fold into pastry cream.
• For pastry: Preheat oven to 425F.
• Take 1 sheet of puff pastry and lay out flat, with long side facing you.
• Cut in 1/2 lengthwise.
• Repeat with other sheet of puff pastry, so you have 4 equal pieces.
• Butter a cookie sheet or baking pan large enough to contain the puff pastry pieces and place the pastry on the cookie sheet.
• Pierce the pastry all over with a fork.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 300F and bake a further 35-40 minutes (pastry should be baked through and a deep golden-brown).
• To assemble: Place 1 sheet of pastry on a platter, spread with half of pastry cream, ensuring you don't spread all the way out to the edges of the pastry.
• Place another sheet of pastry over and spread with remainder of pastry cream.
• Place third sheet of pastry over and spread top and sides of assembled pastry with whipped cream.
• Crumble up the fourth pastry sheet with your hands and sprinkle broken pieces of pastry on top of whipped cream and press some onto sides.
• Place in refrigerator for 1/2 hour to set.
• Just before serving, place 2 tblsps of icing sugar into a sieve and sieve directly over cake.
• Serve immediately.
• This is a dessert that is quick to make and assemble but has to be eaten close to making, otherwise the puff pastry absorbs moisture and becomes soggy.
• Note: A very nice variation is to thinly spread the first and second puff pastry sheet (the ones that you spread with the custard) with a thin scraping of seedless raspberry jam before you spread with custard.

SWEET BASTELA

Steps:

• In a heavy saucepan, heat the milk and sugar to scalding.
• Whirl the eggs in a blender while slowly pouring in the hot milk.
• Add the vanilla and cinnamon.
• If the custard doesn't thicken enough to coat a spoon, return it to the pan and reheat it gently, stirring constantly until it thickens. If it should curdle slightly while thickening, blend it again.
• Refrigerate the custard.
• Using a 7-8 inch plate as a guide, cut 2 circles from each sheet of filo.
• On buttered baking pans, stack the filo sheets, four sheets to a stack, brushing every second sheet with melted butter.
• Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes until the filo is golden brown.
• Assemble the bastela. Begin with one pair of filo circles. Spread all of the jam over this bottom layer of filo and sprinkle on a few chopped almonds.
• Add another pair of filo circles, some almonds, and some of the egg custard.
• Continue to layer the filo, almonds, and custard until all of the ingredients are used.
• End with a pair of filo circles.
• Sprinkle the pastry with confectioners' sugar, cut it into 6 wedges and serve immediately.