Strawberry Lemon Napoleons
Strawberry Lemon Napoleons are a bright, elegant twist on the classic French Napoleon (Mille-feuille). Crisp layers of puff pastry are filled with tangy lemon cream and sweet, juicy strawberries—ideally fresh from a local farm.
The lemon cream gets its luscious texture from gently whipped cream folded into lemon curd, stabilized with just a touch of gelatin for structure.
As with our classic Napoleons, smaller portions make for a more refined and enjoyable dessert. The assembled strip is cut into six pieces, then each piece halved, resulting in a beautiful presentation and a thoroughly satisfying dessert experience.
Store bought all-butter puff pastry and good-quality lemon curd will work perfectly fine in this recipe. The gold leaf gelatin (from beef) is available from Amazon.
Strawberry Lemon Napoleons
| Yield: 12 | # of Servings: 12 | Difficulty: Advanced |
Ingredients
18 oz Puff Pastry or 1 box store bought frozen puff pastry
1 recipe Lemon Curd, or good quality store bought
1 ¼ cup (10 fl oz) heavy cream
3 ea (.25 oz / 7 g) sheets gold leaf gelatin1
Cold water, as needed
1-quart fresh strawberries, rinsed, stemmed and sliced
Confectioners’ sugar, as needed
Special tools and equipment:
- Half sheet pan (17.5” by 12.5”) with parchment paper sheet
- Fine mesh strainer
- Small offset spatula
- 21” pastry bag with plain round tip, optional
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Clear a space in the refrigerator to hold the 17.5” by 12.5” half sheet pan
- Clear space on your work counter or kitchen island to roll out the puff pastry.
- Heat the raspberry preserves until just warm enough to slightly liquify and pass through a small fine mesh strainer. Set aside.
Directions
Rolling out and baking the pastry:
- Roll the puff pastry into a rectangle at least 18 by 13”. Roll the dough over the rolling pin, then drape it over the half sheet pan. The dough will extend over the sides.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. The whole pan may be well wrapped with plastic film and frozen for up to one month.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove dough sheet from the refrigerator and, using the tines of a fork, press holes around the entire sheet, approximately 2” apart.
- Bake the puff pastry for between 20 and 25 minutes, until golden brown.
- Turn off and let pastry sit in oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven and place on a rack to thoroughly cool.
Preparing the lemon cream:
- Place 1 ¾ cup (16 oz / 454 g) lemon curd in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Soften the leaf gelatin in cold water. Once soft, squeeze the water out, and place over a double boiler to melt the gelatin.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks and pour in the liquified gelatin. Beat until just medium peaks. Stir one quarter of the whipped cream into the lemon curd to lighten, then fold in remainder.
- Refrigerate for thirty minutes, until just set.
Assembling the Napoleon:
- Remove the baked puff pastry sheet from pan to a large cutting board.
- With a serrated knife, trim ¼” off all the edges of the pastry.
- Using a ruler, or a cardboard template, cut the pastry sheet into three 3 ¼“ by 13” strips. Save the best strip for the top.
- Using pipe (using a pastry bag with a #8 round tip) or spread a thin layer of lemon cream over the bottom strip. Scatter sliced strawberries over the cream, then spread a thin layer of the lemon cream over the berries.
- Place the middle layer on the cream and press down gently. Repeat step 4, then press the third strip, flat side up on the cream and press down gently.
- Dust generously with confectioners’ sugar.
- Using a sharp serrated knife, trim the ends of the napoleon so it is 12” long. Save these trimmings ae your treat when finished. You should now have a rectangle 3 ¼“ wide by 12” long.
- Using a ruler to gently mark 2” sections, cut into six (6) slices, then slice each piece in half.
- Keep refrigerated, serve the same day. Any extra strawberry slices can be served on the side.
Notes:
1 Leaf gelatin from beef (as opposed to a pig) is available from Amazon Amazon.com : HAODONG Gold Gelatin Sheets – Beef Leaf Gelatin 200 Bloom (40g, 18-20Sheets) for Baking Desserts Mirror Glaze Mousse Cake : Grocery & Gourmet Food
