Best Strawberry Napoleon Recipes

STRAWBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out each pastry sheet to a 9-in. square. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden brown. , Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into a bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate, without stirring, until chilled. , For topping, beat cream in a chilled large bowl until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until soft peaks form. , Place one pastry square on a serving platter. Top with the custard, strawberries, sweetened whipped cream and second pastry. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Refrigerate leftovers.

EASY STRAWBERRY 'NAPOLEON'

Steps:

• Mix pudding mix and milk-(skim or low fat is fine) and beat on low for 2 minutes.
• Fold in Cool Whip- can be low or non fat.
• Place 12 crackers in bottom of 8" square dish to cover bottom, break crackers if needed. Breaking also helps disguise the saltines.
• Top with 1/3 of the pudding mix.
• Repeat to create a total of three layers of crackers and three layers of pudding.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
• Just before serving top with cleaned and sliced berries.
• Note: Vanilla and strawberries are my favorite combo but try with different types of fresh fruit using what is in season. Also try different pudding flavors keeping in mind that lighter colors disguise the saltines the best!

RASPBERRY COULIS FOR EBERHARD'S ALPINE STRAWBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, mash berries with a fork. Stir in sugar, using just enough to take the edge off the tartness. Let them macerate for 20 to 30 minutes to bring out the juices. Transfer to a blender or food processor, and puree until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds, reserving the coulis. Adjust thickness if necessary with a little water.

STRAWBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Thaw the frozen puff pastry by placing it in room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Once thawed, unfold the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut it into 3 strips along the fold mark.
• Cut each of the 3 strips into 4 rectangles; you will have a total of 12 same sized rectangles.
• Place the pastry rectangles on a baking sheet about an inch apart and bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the pastry cool.
• In the meantime, make the vanilla pudding according to the package directions using the cold milk.
• Fold in the whipped cream into the set vanilla pudding.
• Now break apart each pastry rectangle into 2 layers - top and bottom; you now have 24 rectangles.
• Keep aside 8 top layers.
• Line up 8 bottom parts and spoon ½ of the vanilla mixture on them, dividing equally between the 8 pastries.
• Top with strawberry slices and another piece of pastry.
• Repeat with the remaining vanilla mixture and strawberry slices.
• Top with the reserved pastry tops.
• Garnish with a few slices of strawberry and a dusting of powdered sugar.
• Either serve immediately or the patries can be refrigerated for upto 3 hours.
• Note that the preparation time does not include time to thaw the pastry.

EBERHARD'S ALPINE STRAWBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Unfold puff pastry, and place on two baking sheets. Bake until the dough has puffed but is still soft and not yet browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Set a wire rack directly on top of the dough, and press gently to flatten to about 1/8 inch. Bake until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
• Transfer pastry to a cutting board. Increase the oven temperature to 475 degrees. Using a serrated knife, cut the pastry into eighteen 2-by-3-inch rectangles. (If you have extra pastry, cut out a few more rectangles to replace any that break.) Evenly dust the pastry with 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Return the pastry to the baking sheet, and bake until the sugar is melted to a glaze, and the pastry is browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a rack, and let cool. (This can also be done under a broiler, watched very closely.)
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine heavy cream and creme fraiche. Add vanilla seed scrapings and the remaining 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar; whisk until stiff.
• To assemble the Napoleons, transfer the whipped cream into a disposable pastry bag. Cut off about 1/2 inch of the tip of the bag with scissors. Pipe a 1/4-inch-thick layer of whipped cream over twelve of the pastry rectangles. Top with a single layer of berries. Stack six of the filled pastries on top of the other six. Top each stack with a plain pastry. Place each Napolean on a dessert plate, and drizzle about 2 tablespoons raspberry coulis around the pastry.

ROASTED STRAWBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, and set aside. Have ready another baking pan, unlined. In a small bowl, combine corn syrup with 1 teaspoon warm water; set aside.
• Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Roll puff-pastry sheet into a 12-inch square; trim edges. Cut sheet on the fold lines, making three 4-by-12-inch rectangles. Place rectangles on lined pan. Top with another piece of parchment. Place the unlined pan on top of the filled pan. Bake puff pastry 8 minutes.
• Remove the empty pan and top parchment, and return pan to oven. Bake until pastry starts to puff and is light-golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven; lightly brush with reserved corn-syrup mixture. Using a long metal spatula, gently flip rectangles. Brush again with corn-syrup mixture. Bake until shiny and golden brown, about 9 minutes more. With the spatula, transfer puff pastry to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
• Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Using a pastry brush, coat the bottom of a medium oven-proof saute pan with 1 tablespoon butter; scrape vanilla seeds into butter. Place strawberries, cut sides down, in pan. Sprinkle with granulated sugar, and lay vanilla pod on top. Roast until strawberries start to "slump" and feel soft when squeezed, 10 to 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer all but 2 of the berries and vanilla pod to a plate to cool. Reserve juices in pan.
• Set pan over high heat. If using Grand Marnier, add to pan, and light a match, carefully igniting liqueur; allow flame to burn out, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium. Using a fork, mash 2 remaining strawberries; add orange juice. (If not using liqueur, add 2 tablespoons more orange juice). Cook until thick and syrupy, 30 to 40 seconds; discard vanilla pod. Remove from heat. Swirl in the remaining tablespoon butter, and set aside.
• Combine cream and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, and whip until stiff peaks form.
• Without using a tip, close off the end of a pastry bag with a paper clip or clothespin; fill with whipped cream. Repeat, filling a second pastry bag with orange pastry cream. (Alternatively, use two resealable plastic bags, and cut off a corner on each; an offset spatula can also be used to spread both whipped and pastry creams.)
• Pipe a tablespoon of pastry cream onto the middle of a serving plate. Center a rectangle of puff pastry on top. Leaving a 1/2-inch border, pipe orange pastry cream onto puff pastry. Arrange roasted strawberries on top of pastry cream; scrape any remaining juices from plate into reserved sauce. Place a second rectangle of puff pastry on top of strawberries. Leaving a 1/2-inch border, pipe whipped cream onto second rectangle of puff pastry. Sprinkle with pistachios. Place a third rectangle of puff pastry on top.
• Using a serrated knife, slice assembled napoleon into 4 pieces. Drizzle with the reserved sauce, and serve.

EASY STRAWBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in the whipped cream. , Place a third of the crackers in an ungreased 8-in. square dish (break crackers to completely cover bottom of dish). Top with a third of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layers twice. , Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Top with strawberries just before serving.

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Strawberry Rhubarb Napoleons
• Serves 4
• Sour Cream Pastry
• C flour
• T sugar
• 4 t salt
• oz (1 C) of cold butter, cut into small pieces
• yolk
• 3 C sour cream
• egg + 1/2 t water for egg wash
• Strawberry and Rhubarb Filling
• lb fresh rhubarb
• 4 C sugar
• t flour
• 2 vanilla bean
• pints fresh strawberries
• C heavy cream or crème fraîche
• sugar to taste
• powdered sugar for dusting
• For the pastry, combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and process until the butter is reduced to small pieces and the mixture resembles course cornmeal for the most part. Add sour cream and yolk and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Be careful not to overmix. Gather the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and seal it. Chill thoroughly.
• Remove the dough and let it warm at room temperature for a couple of minutes. Divide the dough in half and place on a lightly floured piece of parchment. Roll each half out to a very thin 1/8". Using the tip of a sharp knife, score the dough into 4 1/2" x 2 1/2 " rectangles. Chill the dough thoroughly.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Using a sharp knife, cut out the pastry rectangles, place on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with egg wash. Bake for about 13 minutes until golden brown. Cool.
• Cut the rhubarb into 1" pieces. Toss with the sugar and flour.
• Place in a shallow roasting dish or pan. Scrape the vanilla seeds onto the rhubarb and add the vanilla bean.
• Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until tender, stirring once to distribute the juices. Cool.
• Slice the strawberries and fold into the rhubarb. Taste and adjust for sugar.
• Whip the cream to a soft peak with sugar to taste.
• Dust the top of the pastry rectangles with powdered sugar.
• Assemble the Napoleons using 3 pastry rectangles per serving. Layer with cream, fruit and pastry. Serve immediately.