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A Valentine’s cherry millefeuille for Sugar High Friday

by Jeanne Horak on February 13, 2005 11 Comments in Recipes, Sugar High Fridays

Cherry millefeuille

What was that I was saying in my previous post about procrastination?  Here at Cooksister I’ve managed to turn Sugar High Friday into Sugar High Weekend…  But this time there was a reason. No really.  You see, Nick’s been away in Spain for a week on a rowing camp and he took the digital camera with him – so although I could have made something on Friday, I could not have posted pics which would have spoiled the whole post for me.  And also, where’s the fun in making a flashy dessert with no audience??  So in the end I decided to wait for his return yesterday morning and do a SHF contribution a day late.  So for a change it’s not just rampant procrastination on my part – there was a teensy bit of method to my madness.

As this is the first Sugar High Friday event I’ve belatedly participated in, here’s a bit of background.  In the grand tradition of Is my Blog Burning? and Wine Blogging Wednesday (and of course our very own End of Month Egg on Toast Extravaganza!), SHF was originally proposed by Jennifer at the Domestic Goddess as a monthly celebration of all things sweet.  Each month a theme is chosen and food bloggers around the globe create a sweet dish using this theme and post their collective dessert trolley on their blogs, often with super-delectable pictures.  This month’s theme of “Hundreds and hundreds of layers – puff pastry” was chosen by Clement at A La Cuisine and for the first time I was tempted to participate.  As those of you who read this blog regularly will know, I don’t often post dessert recipes – I am far more likely to take time and trouble over a starter or a main course and serve some slices of mango with mascarpone for dessert.  But something about puff pastry seized my imagination and I started giving some thought to what I might make.  I also have to say that pastry and I are not very well acquainted – in fact he thought of making a pastry mostly makes me hyperventilate break out in a cold sweat.  I’m just more of a pastry hick than a pastry chick.  And having read up on the correct way to make puff pastry it became apparent pretty early on in the planning process that I would be buying ready-made pastry rather than making my own!!

Anyhow, I toyed with various recipes I found on the Net – a chocolate nut strudel, a tarte tatin, a chocolate and banana mille-feuille but nothing leaped out at me.  Also, I knew I would be making my dessert for just 2 people and neither of us has a very sweet tooth, so a large volume would just go to waste.  In the end it came down to leaving work on Friday evening and walking through Tesco to see what took my fancy.  Found the frozen puff pastry & then something in the fruit and veg aisle caught my eye – cherries!  Some of the first of the coming summer season and, along with crocuses and daffodils, a sign for me that the despised winter will eventually come to an end.  Cherries have always been some of my favourite indulgences – there’s something so decadent about popping the whole thing in your mouth and yanking the stalk off before biting into its bittersweet, blood-red flesh.  I remember years ago on a family holiday my mom and I went to do the day’s food shopping in the village and came across some hideously expensive imported cherries.  Totally irresistible.  We bought a little bagful – no more than 20 or so – and set off on the drive home.  It took about 20 seconds for us to have a brief debate as to how much other family members really liked cherries,  how we would be the only ones to appreciate them and whether we could finish the whole bag in the time it took us to drive home.   Suffice to say that by the time we got home the only incriminating evidence was a small bag of pips sucked clean and traces of cherry juice staining our guilty but replete lips.  Sorry dad, sorry bro!!

Ingredients finalised and purchased, I set off home to refine my vague recipe ideas.  In the end, in deference to the approaching festival of all things romantic on Monday, and as a little early celebration upon Nick’s return, I decided that some variation of mille-feuille incorporating cherries, cream and hearts was appropriate.

 

cherry millefeuille

VALENTINE’S CHERRY MILLEFEUILLE (serves 2)

Ingredients:

Puff pastry (I used ready-made) – a square approximately 25x25cm (puff pastry puritans, avert your eyes!)
About 20 fresh cherries, stoned and roughly chopped
2Tbsp brown sugar (I used light Muscovado)
1Tbsp water
1-2 Tbsp cherry liqueur or kirsch
1 Tbsp butter
150ml whipping cream
a splash of cherry liqueur to flavour the cream
icing sugar to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220C and spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.

In a small saucepan dissolve the sugar in the water and cherry liqueur.  As it heats up, stir in the butter so that it melts.  Allow to come to the boil and leave to boil for about 5-10 minutes.  Take off the heat, add the cherries and return to the heat for a couple of minutes to allow the cherries to soften.  Set aside and keep warm.

Take your square of puff pastry – I actually rolled mine a little thinner as I didn’t want HUGE puffs.  You can also limit the puffiness by pricking it all over with a fork before baking.  Cut out four heart shapes, trying to keep them approximately the same size and shape (tricky when you’re doing it freehand like me!).  Mine were about 10cm long and about 7cm wide.  Place the hearts on the baking sheet and pop them in the oven. (I also put my pastry offcuts in the oven in a separate dish, sprinkled with a little grated Parmesan – hmmmm, instant cheese straws!).  The package instructions said to bake for 20 minutes but mine were puffy and golden after 15, so keep an eye on them.

While the hearts are baking, whip up the cream into peaks with enough cherry liqueer that you can taste it – it also turns the cream a lovely pale lavender colour!  If using kirsch, you may also want to add a bit of sugar.

When the puff pastry hearts are done, remove them from the oven and start assembling.  I had planned to use one heart as a base and the other as a top but they were sooooo puffy that I did the following:  slice each heart in half as if you were slicing bread – so that you end up with 2 flatter heart shapes.  (like I told the pastry police, look away NOW!) Put the one flat half on a serving plate and top with a generous helping of the cherries and syrup.  On top of that, place the other flat half and top that with a generous dollop of whipped cream.  On top of that, place one of the puffy hearts and sprinkly with icing sugar.  I used the other puffy half as garnish, also sprinkled with icing sugar.  Voila!

Serve immediately – the contrast of the warm, light pastry, the sweet fruitiness of the warm cherries and the decadence of the alcoholic cream is quite, quite sublime.  Even Nick, who’s not a dessert man, loved it – it was like eating sweet air!  And the hearts shapes actually looked rather lovely – even to an old cynic like me 😉

Happy Valentines day!

 

Puff pastry heart

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  1. Christine says

    February 14, 2005 at 4:16 pm

    Wow! That looks really good. And I completly understand you on the dessert with out an audience. Just not the same.

    Reply
  2. Jeanne says

    February 14, 2005 at 5:28 pm

    Thanks Christine! And let me assure you the taste surpassed all my expectations… It’s definitely going on the menu for my next dinner/lunch party! Dessert with no camera *and* no audience is just unthinkable…

    Reply
  3. Moira says

    February 14, 2005 at 6:23 pm

    Very nice hearts, and very talented woman to be able to cut them freehand and get them even *close* to the same size! I had a cookie cutter, otherwise it would’ve been a really ugly scene at my house.
    Congrats on a very lovely entry! I’ve emailed you the recipe I used for vanilla ice cream…

    Reply
  4. Owen says

    February 15, 2005 at 10:42 pm

    Wow! Looks really good! Nice job Jeanne!
    Owen

    Reply
  5. Christina says

    February 16, 2005 at 10:29 am

    What a great idea. And so sweet! (in both senses of the word)

    Reply
  6. Jeanne says

    February 16, 2005 at 11:56 am

    Thanks Owen! I realyl hoped it woudl turn out well, this beign my first entry in SHF and all… and I was not disappointed!
    Thanks Christina – surprisingly it wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet – it was just right. But it certainly looked charming! 😉

    Reply
  7. Niki says

    February 16, 2005 at 4:15 pm

    I loved the cherry story! I can just imagine it. Your entry looks fabulous too!

    Reply
  8. Joolez says

    February 17, 2005 at 12:03 pm

    wow! anything left? I am taking the next flight! I might even dare to drink wine 🙂
    this sounds so much better than the deep fried snickers? marsbar? what was it?

    Reply
  9. Joolez says

    February 17, 2005 at 12:11 pm

    I just picked up on that one:
    1-2 Tbsp cherry liqueur or kirsch
    so what’s the difference? “Kirsche” is the german word for cherry. I don’t understand

    Reply
  10. Jeanne says

    February 18, 2005 at 3:29 pm

    Hi Niki
    My mom and I laughed every time we thought of that day & the sneaked cherries… Thanks for the compliment – I was very surprised at how well my vision translated into a real, live dessert!
    Hi Joolez
    Haha, yes this would be a lot nicer and lighter than a deep-fried Mars Bar! And a lot prettier too… I think that’s a great idea – fly over to see us, have some wine, live on the edge! 😉
    As for the Kirsch & cherry liqueur debate… OK, firsly, as I understand it you get Kirsch which is a dry cherry brandy/schnapps, distilled from cherries (like wine is distilled from grapes). It is colourless and tastes like an eau de vie – very strong and not sweet at all and is usually in the region of 40% alcohol per volume. This is what is used in proper Swiss fondue. On the other hand (and this is what I used) various cherry liqueuers (Heering is one brand I know of) which are much sweeter, usually cherry-coloured and lower in alcohol (up to 20%). These are usually used in cocktails like a Kir Royale. Hope that clears things up!

    Reply
  11. Patricia Scarpin says

    August 7, 2007 at 6:08 pm

    This is so beautiful, Jeanne!
    There are so many wonderful recipes around here I did not know where to start… 😉

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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