Black Forest mille feuille
makes 8

⅓ cup sour cherry jam
maraschino cherries to garnish

for rough puff
250g salted butter, cold and cut into 2cm cubes
250g plain flour
120ml iced water

for vanilla & almond creme
120ml full cream milk
130g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, halved and seeds scraped
1 tsp almond essence
5 egg yolks
75g cornflour
25g plain flour
90g butter, room temperature, cubed

for chocolate creme
135g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
10g custard powder
50g caster sugar
5 egg yolks
245ml milk
70g butter, room temperature, cubed

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for sponge
3 eggs, separated
60g caster sugar
30ml milk
30ml vegetable oil
60g plain flour
15g cocoa powder

For rough puff, place flour into a medium bowl and toss through the butter. Rub butter between your fingers to break down, but allow large chunks to remain. Make a well in the centre and pour in water. Gather to form a rough, shaggy dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured bench and form into a rectangle (roughly 10 centimetres x 20 centimetres), then fold into thirds. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding. Repeat once more before wrapping in clingfilm and refrigerating for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 190C (fan forced). Halve the dough and roll out each piece onto a lightly floured bench until 4mm thick. Place each piece onto a baking-paper-lined baking tray. Cover with piece of baking paper and follow with another baking tray to weigh down the pastry and prevent it from puffing up. Bake for 12 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180C and bake for a further 10 minutes.  Check for doneness (it should be deeply golden) and press down firmly on the top baking tray (with a tea towel) if the pastry has risen. Bake for a further 10 minutes if required. Allow to cool.

Cut the pastry with a serrated knife into 4 centimetre x 8 centimetre rectangles.

For the vanilla and almond creme, bring milk, half the sugar and the vanilla seeds, and almond essence to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Whisk egg yolks, remaining sugar, cornflour and flour in a medium bowl until smooth. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, whisking continuously. Remove from heat and whisk in butter. Transfer to a container, covering the surface with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

For chocolate creme, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Whisk custard powder, sugar and egg yolks until smooth in a medium bowl. Bring milk to the boil in a medium saucepan. Slowly pour hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, whisking continuously. Pour mixture over chocolate, whisking until combined. Whisk in the butter until combined. Transfer to a container, covering the surface with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

For sponge, preheat oven to 170C and line a 20 centimetre x 30 centimetre baking tray with baking paper.  Whisk the egg whites in a standmixer until foamy, then slowly add half the sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, remaining sugar, milk and oil in a medium bowl until smooth. Fold in egg white mixture until combined. Spread batter in the tray and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool on the tray before portioning into 4 centimetre x 8 centimetre rectangles.

To assemble, place the vanilla and almond creme in a piping bag fitted with a 1 centimetre plain nozzle and the chocolate creme in a pastry bag fitted with a petal nozzle. Place 8 puff pastry rectangles onto a tray and top with a piece of sponge. Spread the sponge with a layer of sour cherry jam. Top with a second layer of pastry, pipe over the vanilla and almond creme, then follow with a third layer of pastry. Finally, pipe the chocolate creme and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

This article first appeared in the October 2024 issue of SALIFE magazine.