Strawberry Mille-Feuille with Pistachio Cream: A Layered Tiered Dessert

Crisp golden puff pastry, pistachio cream and fresh strawberries stacked into a tall tiered dessert. Every slice shows bright red fruit, pale white cream and green pistachio layers, and the whole cake comes together without an oven full of tricks.

This strawberry mille-feuille with pistachio cream is a layered dessert built from a few simple parts. You bake a square of puff pastry until it is golden, then cut it into a rectangle and divide the top into two stripes.

One stripe carries piped pistachio cream in rows of rosettes, and the other carries whipped white cream. Sliced strawberries go into the white cream and in a neat line over the pistachio rosettes.

The pastry is then stacked into tiers, each layer topped with more cream and fruit, and the finished cake is glazed, garnished with chopped pistachios and dusted with crumbs. Give yourself a full afternoon, or split the work over two days, and the result is a tall, striking dessert that slices cleanly and looks finished on the board.

Ingredients

Why this recipe works

Puff pastry gives the cake its structure and its crunch. When it bakes until fully puffed and golden, it becomes dry and sturdy enough to stack, and the layers stay distinct under the cream. Cooling it completely before assembling matters, because warm pastry softens the cream and the layers slide. Baking the pastry flat and cutting it into a rectangle makes the stripes easy to pipe and the stack easy to build.

Pistachio paste and finely ground pistachios make the green cream smooth and deeply flavoured without thinning it. A cold, lightly sweetened whipped cream holds its shape when piped and pressed around fresh fruit.

Chilling between stages lets each layer set so the tiers hold their height when sliced. The contrast between the nutty green cream and the white cream is what gives the cake its clean, two-stripe look inside.

Notes and substitutions

Use store-bought or made ahead puff pastry. Many American cooks buy a sheet from the freezer case and thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. Choose an all-butter sheet if you can find one, because it browns more evenly and tastes richer. Make sure the square is cut neatly so the rectangle keeps straight edges.

You will need a stainless steel box grater for the white chocolate, a sharp chef's knife, a piping bag with a star tip, an offset spatula and a serrated knife for slicing. A 7-inch cake ring or round template helps you build a level tiered cake. If the pistachio cream is too soft to pipe, chill it for 10 minutes.

If you cannot find pistachio paste, blend pistachios with a little neutral oil and confectioners' sugar until smooth, or use a jarred pistachio cream. Heavy cream can be swapped for whipping cream with at least 30 percent fat, which whips to a similar firm texture.

• pistachio paste: pistachio cream from a jar, or pistachios blended with a little neutral oil and confectioners' sugar
• white chocolate glaze: melted white chocolate thinned with a teaspoon of heavy cream
• heavy cream: whipping cream with at least 30 percent fat

Equipment

• stainless steel box grater
• sharp chef's knife
• cutting board
• piping bag with a star tip
• offset spatula
• serrated knife
• 7-inch cake ring or round template