Strawberry Croissants
Puff pastry tarts topped with pasty cream and strawberry slices.
- Prep time
- 40 min
- Cook time
- 54 min
- Yield
- 18 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 sheets of puff pastry
- 1 egg + 1 tsp water, for egg wash
- 3/4 lb. strawberries, stems removed and cut into thin slices
- powdered sugar, to dust on top
Instructions
- 1
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale yellow. Add in the flour, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk everything together to combine.
- 2
Add the milk to a saucepan and warm over medium-low heat until steam is rising from the milk, but its not bubbling yet. Do not let the milk simmer or boil.
- 3
Once the milk is hot, gradually add the milk to the egg batter in slow, steady batches, whisking the egg batter vigorously as you do.
- 4
Rinse the saucepan under water to get rid of any milk that may have stuck to the bottom of the pot, then return the saucepan to the stove. Pour the batter into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking the entire time. You'll want to whisk the cream until it's thickened up like pudding - about 7 to 8 minutes.
- 5
Take the saucepan off the stove and whisk in the vanilla paste. Transfer the cream to a clean bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap, placing the plastic wrap directly onto the cream. Refrigerate until chilled - about 2 hours.
- 6
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat.
- 7
Unroll the puff pastry sheets and divide each sheet into 6 squares. Use a fork to pierce all over the pastry squares, leaving the borders of the pastry squares bare (so don't pierce the borders).
- 8
Brush the egg wash along the bare borders of the puff pastry. Bake a set of 6 squares in the oven for about 18 minutes, until the edges are golden. Keep the other pastry squares that haven't baked yet in the fridge to stay cool.
- 9
Once the pastry has finished baking, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. If you want to make the center more depressed, you can gently press your fingers down in the center of the pastry while it's still warm. This will make a slight cavity in the center for the cream filling (making this depression is optional, as the pastry cream is firm enough to simply rest on top of the pastry squares without needing a "nest")
- 10
Once the pastry squares are completely cool, add a couple tablespoons of pastry cream to each pastry square, then top with a couple slices of strawberries. Dust powdered sugar on top. Serve immediately or keep refrigerated until ready to serve.