Fig, Orange Blossom & Pistachio Mille-Feuille
From Ainsley’s Fantastic Flavours, ITV
Orange blossom adds a floral lightness to this sweet and creamy dessert and there’s a satisfying crunch from the pistachio nuts and pastry. I’ve used a mascarpone cream mix rather than the traditional creme pat to keep the sweetness down a little. Shop bought pastry makes this an easy yet impressive dessert to serve for dessert or an afternoon treat.
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180cfan/Gas 6.
Place the sheet of pastry on a lined baking tray and dust with icing sugar. Place another sheet of greaseproof paper on top of the pastry and a heavy baking tray on top of the paper so that the pastry bakes flat. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Cut the sheet into 12 equal portions using a sharp knife (for a 320g sheet cut in half lengthways, then each half into 6 equal pieces, ending up with 12 pieces of approx. 2×4 inches). Select the best four looking rectangles and dust these with icing sugar. (For a fancy decoration, carefully heat a metal skewer in the flame of a gas hob and hold on top of the icing sugar to form ‘burnt’ sugar lines in a criss-cross pattern).
Put the mascarpone in a large clean bowl. Soften the mascarpone with 1 tablespoon of the double cream using an electric whisk and then gradually whisk in the remaining cream. Add the orange blossom and sifted icing sugar and whisk until stiff peaks start to form. Don’t over whip because mascarpone can easily curdle. Stir in the zest.
Place a pastry rectangle on a serving plate and spread a little of the fig jam down the middle lengthways. Pipe a layer of mascarpone cream around the edge of the fig jam. Arrange 2-3 fig slices on top and scatter over some pistachios and mint. Top with another pastry layer and repeat the process. Finish with a decorated pastry top and drizzle with a little honey. Garnish with a fig quarter and mint leaves. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have 4 mille-feuille. Enjoy straight away.
Tip: you can cut the baked pastry sheet into 3 to make one large mille feuille if you prefer – just cut the top layer of pastry into four before placing on top so that you can use it as a guide for cutting the dessert into slices.
Ingredients
- 1 x 320g sheet of ready-made puff pastry
- icing sugar, for dusting
- 250g mascarpone, chilled
- 275g double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- ½-1 tsp orange blossom extract (more or less depending on brand strength)
- zest of 1 orange
- 4-5 tbsp fig or apricot jam, loosened with a dash of water or juice if needed
- 3-4 figs, 2-3 thinly sliced and 1 cut into quarters
- 45g pistachios, toasted and chopped
- 8 mint leaves, finely shredded, plus extra leaves to garnish
- runny honey, for drizzling (orange blossom or heather honey if you have it)