Recipe from Provence: Berry Mille-feuilles with Orange Cookies - Mille-Feuilles de Tuiles à l’Orange aux Fruits Rouges

Recently, we reviewed an extraordinary book: Provence Food and Wine: The Art of Living – here’s one of the recipes from it!

Click here to read our review and author interview

Click here for another recipe: Onion Tart - Pissaladière

Berry Mille-feuilles with Orange Cookies
Mille-Feuilles de Tuiles à l’Orange aux Fruits Rouges

For the orange cookies:
2 cups (224 g) finely chopped almonds
1 cup (192 g) granulated sugar
²⁄³ cup (84 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (114 g) butter, softened (1 stick)
1⁄³ cup (79 mL) orange juice
Zest of 1 orange
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier liqueur

For the Chantilly:
2 cups (474 mL) whole or 2% milk
1 vanilla bean, cut open
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup (96 g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup (237 mL) whipping cream

For assembling the dish:
11/2 cups (216 g) small strawberries
11/2 cups (216 g) red raspberries
11/2 (341 g) cups blueberries
12 fresh mint leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 11 × 17-inch (27.5 × 43-cm) baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir well. Using a tablespoon, scoop out the dough and place dollops of it 11/2 inches (3.8 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheet.

3. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven. Cool on a wire rack.

To prepare the Chantilly:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk and vanilla over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is thick and pale. Add the cornstarch and slowly temper in the milk–vanilla mixture, 1 cup (237 mL) at a time, making sure not to scramble the eggs.

3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the pastry cream comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from the heat.

4. Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (make sure the wrap touches the surface of the pastry cream, in order to prevent a crust from forming). Set aside to cool to room temperature.

5. In a very cold bowl, whip the whipping cream. Add the whipped cream to the pastry cream and stir well, creating a Chantilly.

To assemble the dish:

1. Place 6 of the cookies on a large platter. Arrange the strawberries in a circle on each cookie, leaving 1 inch (2.5 cm) in the center of each cookie empty. Fill the empty space with the Chantilly. Cover with another cookie and make a circle with raspberries and blueberries. Fill the center with the Chantilly. Cover with a third cookie and decorate with more fruit and 2 mint leaves. Serve immediately.