Mille-feuille à la vanille (French Vanilla Custard Slice)

Shatteringly crisp pastry layered with silky vanilla custard and a delicate sweet finish—pure French pâtisserie comfort.

Ingredients

• 2 sheets puff pastry (about 500g total), thawed if frozen
• 750 ml (3 cups) milk
• 1 vanilla bean *(or 2 tsp vanilla extract)*
• 150 g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 60 g (1/2 cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
• 40 g unsalted butter
• Pinch of salt
• 120 g icing sugar (powdered sugar), for dusting

Method

• 1

  Step 1: Bake the puff pastry (flat + crisp)

  Preheat oven to **200°C / 390°F (180°C fan)**. Line two trays with baking paper.

• 2

  Step 2: Infuse the milk with vanilla

  In a saucepan, add milk. Split the vanilla bean, scrape seeds into the milk, then add the pod too. Warm over medium heat until steaming and just starting to bubble at the edges (don’t boil hard), **about 5–7 minutes**. Turn off heat, cover, and steep **10 minutes** for stronger vanilla flavour.

• 3

  Step 3: Whisk the custard base

  In a bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until lighter and slightly thickened, **about 1 minute**. Whisk in cornflour and salt until smooth and lump-free.

• 4

  Step 4: Temper, then cook until thick and glossy

  Remove vanilla pod. Slowly whisk a ladle of hot milk into the yolk mixture to loosen it, then pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan while whisking.

• 5

  Step 5: Finish with butter + chill to set

  Take off heat, whisk in butter until melted and the custard is satiny. If using vanilla extract instead of a bean, whisk it in now.

• 6

  Step 6: Assemble the slice (clean layers)

  Trim pastry sheets to neat rectangles if you want sharp edges. Place one pastry sheet on a serving board. Spread (or pipe) all custard evenly over the top, right to the edges.

• 7

  Step 7: Finish + slice neatly

  Dust generously with icing sugar. For the cleanest slices, chill the assembled mille-feuille **30 minutes**, then cut using a long serrated knife with a gentle sawing motion (wipe the blade between cuts).

Tips

• **Flatter pastry tip:** Baking the pastry sandwiched between trays is the secret to “slice-able” layers instead of overly puffed pastry.
• **No vanilla bean?** Use **2 tsp vanilla extract** (add off-heat) for a lovely, classic vanilla custard.
• **Make-ahead:** Custard can be made **up to 2 days ahead** (kept covered, paper on surface). Assemble **same day** for maximum crispness.
• **Serving ideas:** Best with **coffee** or **fresh berries** (optional) to cut the richness.

Nutrition (per serving, estimate)