Giant Mille-Feuille

For the Crème Pâtissière:

Put the milk, and vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Turn off the heat to allow the flavour to infuse for 20 minutes, then remove the pod. Bring the milk back up to a simmer.

Put the sugar, salt, cornflour, and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk with an electric beater until you have a thick, pale mix. As the milk comes to a simmer, remove it from the heat and pour half the milk into the egg mix, whisking constantly. This ensures that the egg mixture won't curdle.

Add the rest of the milk to the egg mix and whisk well. Return the mix to the cleaned out pan and cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and starts to bubble, around 5-8 minutes.

Remove from the heat, then whisk in the butter. If you see that the mix has lumps you can pass it through a fine sieve while it is still hot. Alternatively, use a stick blender to do the same thing. Pour the mix into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with cling film so that it doesn’t form a skin on top. Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge, ideally overnight.

To assemble:

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Cut the pastry into 3 even rectangles. Line a baking tray with baking paper and put 2 pieces of pastry on the tray. Prick each piece of pastry all over with a fork. Cover with another layer of baking paper and put another baking tray on top. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the top baking tray and top sheet of baking paper and cook the pastry for another 4-5 minutes, until dark golden brown. Let cool completely. Repeat with the remaining piece of puff pastry.

Take the crème pâtissière out of the fridge and whisk well until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream and icing sugar to soft peaks and fold it through the crème pâtissière. Put into a piping bag if you plan on piping in your filling.

On a serving tray, put a small blob of the crème pâtissière to help hold the pastry in place. Add one layer of pastry. Pipe the filling over the pastry (or smear it smoothly with a spatula). Top with another piece of pastry and repeat until you have 3 layers of pastry and crème pâtissière. Arrange the berries on top. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

You can serve at this point, but it will be messy to cut. Ideally put the whole dessert into the fridge for an hour. The pastry will soften slightly and make it easier to cut. Ideally use a serrated knife, wiping the knife clean between each slice.