Napoleon
By: Helen Pitlick
Published: Tuesday, December 1, 2009 - 2:10am

Ingredients




1 pound Pre-made Puff Pastry
4 cups Whole Milk
2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
 cup Flour
7 ounces Butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons Cornstarch
2 Vanilla Beans
10 Egg Yolks
Additional Flour to roll out pastry crust
Additional Butter for baking sheet 
Powdered Sugar to decorate

Preparation

1 Preheat oven to 400°F 2 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a large rectangle. Transfer the flattened pastry onto parchment paper placed on a baking sheet. Prick the top of the pastry with a fork. Cover the pastry with a another layer of parchment paper and place another baking sheet, of the same size to keep pastry flat. If you don't have another baking sheet, just pour rice or dried beans over the top. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 3 Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and bake with either the additional baking sheet on top, or with the rice/beans on top for ten minutes. Take out of oven, remove baking sheet (or rice/beans) and remove top layer of parchment paper. Put back in the oven until lightly browned, another 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool  completely. 4 While pastry is in the oven, prepare the cream filling. In a large saucepan combine the yolks and sugar and stir well. Stir in flour, and cornstarch. 5 Cut the vanilla beans in half lengthwise; scrape the seeds into the mixture and stir well. 6 Slowly stir in the milk until mixture is blended completely. Put the mixture on the stove over light heat and very gently bring to a simmer; when you see small bubbles, remove from heat and refrigerate. 7 In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter so that it rises. Gently mix in the rest of the cream filling. 8 Once the pastry has cooled, cut it carefully (a serrated knife works best) into three even parts. Using a spoon and a spatula, spread a thick layer of cream filling on two parts of pastry crust. Stack these two layers and cover with the third (top) pastry piece. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar. Refrigerate until serving.