My story is one you’ve probably heard before. Young Jewish woman is pre-med in college, ends up in law school after a chemistry accident. After a few years of glamorous environmental law, she was off to Geneva and finds herself at the UN listening to terrorists discuss human rights. How to top that? Pastry school in Paris was the obvious choice. A catering business in Geneva, taught a few cooking classes in French and then came back and started a cooking school in the D.C. area. Oh yeah, had four kids at some point. Now I travel the country teaching kosher cooking and baking and proving that Kosher food can be beautiful, elegant and delicious. Along the way, I set out to start a kosher baking revolution. Join me.
Napoleons (Pareve)
serves 8
1 sheet frozen parve puff pastry
Flour for dusting pastry
1 cup parve plain soy milk
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons parve margarine
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons flour, sifted after measuring
1/3 cup parve whipping cream
1 ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
2 -3 tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces parve bittersweet chocolate
Defrost the puff pastry according to package directions. Cut a piece of parchment the size of your cookie sheet. Sprinkle with flour. Unroll the pastry sheet and roll until it is about the size of the cookie sheet. Trim edges straight and discard the trimmings. Prick all over with a fork. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place another cookie sheet on top of the pastry and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the top cookie sheet and slide the parchment and pastry off the bottom sheet onto the counter. Trim the sides so they are straight and slice into three long, even strips. If necessary, trim he sides again so all the sides are the same size. Let cool.
To make the pastry cream: In a heavy saucepan, bring the soy milk, scraped seeds and vanilla bean or vanilla extract, margarine, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar to boil. Whisk the mixture to separate the vanilla bean seeds. Meanwhile, use a whisk to beat the egg yolks and the remaining sugar in a medium bowl. Add the flour and use a silicone spatula to gently mix into the eggs. Strain half the soy milk mixture into the egg bowl and whisk. Strain the other half of the soy milk into the egg and mix well.
Return mixture to the saucepan and cook on low heat for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. You will need a silicone spatula to mix the cream in the corners of the pot so it does not burn. Remove from heat and place in a bowl. Let sit 5 minutes and then cover with plastic and place in refrigerator until chilled, 4 hours or overnight. To use sooner, place the bowl of pastry cream over a larger bowl filled with ice and a little water (below the level of the bowl with the cream) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cream is chilled. Mix occasionally. This can be made 2 to days in advance and stored at room temperature.
To prepare the glaze, in a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of the hot water and whisk. Add more water if necessary to get a thick glaze. In another bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave until smooth. Take one of the pastry strips and place on waxed paper. Drizzle the white and chocolate glazes over the pastry, as desired. You can also spread the white glaze all over the pastry, make lines of chocolate and use a toothpick to marble it. Let dry. This will be the top of the dessert.
Whip the cream until thick. Fold into the chilled pastry cream. Using a pastry bag with a ¼ - ½ inch tip, pipe out lines of cream on top of one pastry strip. You can also spread with a spatula, but the cream comes out more even with the pastry bag. Place the second pastry on top and add another row of lines. Place the glazed pastry on top and place in the fridge to firm up until serving, at least one hour. You can even place in the freezer for 15 minutes to make slicing easier.