Strawberry Napoleon is a classic French dessert made from layers of flaky puff pastry, homemade pastry cream and fresh strawberries. This dessert looks fancy, but is simple and perfect for kids to help make!
Pastry CreamMaking homemade pastry cream isn’t difficult, it just takes a little time and some whisking!
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk until it is simmering.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla and salt until it is combined and thick.
Remove half of the hot milk. Leave the remainder in the saucepan off the heat.
Temper the egg mixture with the portion of the hot milk that you removed. Slowly, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continually and vigorously. You want to slowly heat up the egg mixture with the hot milk, so make sure you go slowly or you will end up with scrambled eggs.
Pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the hot milk.
Place the saucepan back on medium heat and whisk vigorously for 2 minutes.
While you are whisking, turn up the heat to medium-high and allow the egg mixture to come to a boil. Whisk for 1-2 minutes after you see the first bubbles start to break the surface.
Remove from the heat.
Whisk in the butter.
Pour the custard into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic wrap is touching the top of the custard (this will help it to not form a skin on top).
Allow the custard to come to room temperature (or mostly cool). Chill in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
Puff Pastry
Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions.
Lay the puff pastry sheets flat and cut along the fold lines to create 3 rectangular pieces.
Cut each of those 3 rectangles in half lengthwise, so you have 6 rectangle pieces (three on top and three on bottom).
Cut each of those rectangles in half lengthwise, to give you 12 total pieces.
Place the puff pastry pieces on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack when done.
Repeat with the other sheet of puff pastry.
*Note: If you want your puff pastry to be very even and flat, place a piece of parchment paper on top of the cut puff pastry, and then layer a second baking sheet on top of it. Bake the puff pastry weighted like this to keep them from puffing up too much. Remove the weights for the last 5 minutes of baking.
Assembly
Slice each puff pastry piece in half, creating a top and a bottom.
Decide if you want two or three layers of puff pastry in your napoleon. If you do two, you will have some leftover puff pastry pieces. If you choose to do 3 layers, you will need to find relatively flat pieces to use as middle pieces.
Place the bottom pieces on a platter.
Fill each bottom piece with some pastry cream.
Layer sliced strawberries on top of the pastry cream.
Take the top pieces and place some pastry cream on the underside (so the top stays pretty), and then place on top of the strawberries with the pastry cream touching the strawberries.
Decorate the completed napoleons with a sprinkle of powdered sugar, whipped cream (if you want), or a small dot of pastry cream with a strawberry on top.
Serve immediately.
Notes
These napoleons are best served fresh. However, you can parepare the various parts ahead of time and then assemble right before you eat. This pastry cream can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.