What is a Mille-feuille?
The Mille-feuille (French 'thousand leaves'), Napoleon (U.S.), vanilla slice, cream slice or custard slice (Commonwealth countries) is a pastry made of several layers of puff pastry alternating with a sweet filling, typically pastry cream (custard), but sometimes whipped cream, or jam. It is usually glazed with icing or fondant in alternating white and brown (chocolate) strips, and combed. The name is also written as "millefeuille" and "mille feuille".
There are also savory mille-feuilles with cheese and spinach or other fillings.
Variant names and forms
"In Italy, where the pastry is thought to have originated in Naples, it is called mille foglie and contains similar fillings. A savory Italian version consists of puff pastry filled with spinach, cheese or pesto, among other things."
"In the Commonwealth (Canada excepted), mille-feuille is known as ‘vanilla slice’ or ‘cream slice’, and usually has only a top and bottom pastry layer. The filling is often flavored with chocolate. Other popular icings include vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, and passion fruit. In New Zealand, it is usually called a ‘custard square.’ In Canada, mille-feuille is the more common name, due to the country's long French history."
"A variation popular in England is the Bavarian Slice which has a layer of raspberry or strawberry jam and rippled icing, although there is no evidence that this is a traditional Bavarian dish."
"In Sweden as well as in Finland the Napoleonbakelse (Napoleon pastry) is a mille-feuille filled with whipped cream, custard, and jam. The top of the pastry is glazed with icing and currant jelly. In Denmark and Norway it is simply called Napoleon-cake."
"The Netherlands and Belgium eat the tompoes or tompouce. Several variations exist in Belgium, but in the Netherlands, it is iconic and the market allows preciously little variation in form, size, ingredients and colour. See tompouce."
History
"The origin of the mille-feuille is unknown. The Hungarian city of Szeged may have something to do with its origins. Carême (writing at the end of the 18th century) considered it of 'ancient origin'. It was earlier called "gâteau de mille-feuilles" 'cake of a thousand leaves'."
Origin of the name 'Napoleon'
"The name appears to come from napolitain, the French adjective for the Italian city of Naples, but altered by association with the name of Emperor Napoleon I of France. There is no evidence to connect the pastry to the emperor himself."
In France, a Napoléon is a kind of mille-feuille filled with almond paste.
Names for the mille-feuille pastry in other languages:
- In Arabic "ميل فى" [mīlfī]
- In Bulgarian "Наполеон" ('Napoleon')
- In Chinese "拿破仑" ('Napoleon')
- In Dutch "tompoes", (or En:Tompouce) and in Belgium, near the French-Dutch language boundary also "mille-feuille" pronounced as [me'fəj].
- In Danish Napoleonsterte ('Napoleons Cake')
- In New Zealand "Custard square"
- In English (Australia) "Vanilla slice"
- In English (Australian Slang) "Snot Block"
- In English (U.K.) "Vanilla slice" or "Cream slice"
- In English (U.S.) "Napoleon"
- In Estonian "Napoleoni kook" or "napoleonikook" ('Napoleon's cake')
- In Filipino "Napoleones" is a similar pastry made in the western Visayas region of the country
- In Finnish "Napoleonin leivos"
- In French "Mille-feuille" ('Thousand sheets')
- In German "Cremeschnitte" ('cream slice'); the dough is "Blätterteig" ('sheet dough'); also "Napoleonschnitte"
- In Yiddish "קרם שניט" [kremʃnitte]
- In Hungarian "Francia krémes"
- In Italian "Millefoglie" ('Thousand sheets')
- In Japanese "ミルフィーユ" [mirɯfījɯ]
- In Norwegian "Napoleonskake" ('Napoleon's cake')
- In Portuguese "Mil-folhas" ('Thousand-sheets')
- In Russian "Наполеон" ('Napoleon').
- In Swedish "Napoleonbakelse" ('Napoleon pastry')
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Example Recipe & Ingredients
2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry
3/4 cup caster sugar
2/3 cup cornflour
1/2 cup custard powder
500 ml milk
500 ml cream
60g butter
2 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla essence
150g good quality dark chocolate
"Line base and sides of a load pan with foil. Place pastry sheets on greaseproof paper and bake in a preheated 220C oven for about 15 minutes. Pastry should be puffed and brown. Let cool and then gently flatten the pastry.
Custard: Combine sugar, flour and custard in a pan. Add the milk and cream and mix well till smooth. Stir over medium heat until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add in butter, egg yolks and essence. Mix well till smooth.
"Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Cut the pastry into 4 slices and trim to fit the pan. Place on slice of pastry into the pan and spread with chocolate then cover with some custard. Place another slice of pastry on top and press down. Repeat and finish off with pastry on top. Cover top with chocolate. Chill - preferably overnight."
Remove dessert from pan and remove foil carefully. Trim sides on dessert so that the layers show.
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See Also:
Shop Bread Related:
Names for the mille-feuille pastry in other languages:
In Danish Napoleonsterte ('Napoleons Cake')
In New Zealand "Custard square"
In English (Australia) "Vanilla slice"
In English (Australian Slang) "Snot Block"
In English (U.K.) "Vanilla or "Cream Slice"
In English (U.S.) "Napoleon"
In Estonian "Napoleoni kook"
see complete list at bottom of page
