Chocolate Mille-Feuille

Ingredients

Chocolate Puff Pastry

• 550 g Plain/All-Purpose Flour
• 40 g Cocoa Powder
• 15 g Fine Sea Salt
• 90 g Unsalted Butter, Melted
• 6 g White Vinegar
• 294 g Water

Butter Block

• 500 g Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

Dark Chocolate Cremeux

• Dark Chocolate Cremeux Recipe
  • You just need ⅔ of this recipe - not the full quantity, so scale it down by 0.66x
• Zest 1 Orange (Optional)

Orange Gel

• 140 g Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
• 1.40 g Agar Agar Powder

Instructions

Chocolate Puff Pastry (Part 1)

1. Into a small saucepan, add the butter and melt it over a low heat. Remove it from the heat once melted to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, add the vinegar (which helps to relax the gluten) and tepid water to a jug.
3. Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Mix on a low speed with the paddle attachment.
4. Pour the melted butter in and mix on low speed.
5. Pour the remaining liquid into the stand mixer and mix on a low speed just until it pulls together into a rough dough with no more dry bits.
6. Lift the dough out onto a work surface and briefly knead it with your hands - about 30 seconds.
7. On to a large piece of acetate or parchment paper, draw a 20x25cm rectangle.
8. Lift the dough into the centre and fold the edges up to form a neat rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to the edges of the rectangle and then chill the dough in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.

Butter Block

1. Take a large sheet of acetate or parchment paper and draw a rectangular outline, 20x25cm. Place the butter into the centre. Wrap the excess parchment/acetate around the butter, folding the edges in to match the guides.
2. Use a rolling pin to roll the butter, pushing it to the edges and creating an even layer of butter across the rectangle of parchment. Place this in the fridge to chill for at least an hour, or overnight.

Dark Chocolate Cremeux

1. Prepare the dark chocolate cremeux as per the recipe - if you are interested into adding a little bit of orange zest, add that into the cream when you are heating it. Pour the cremeux onto a tray, then chill this in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Chocolate Puff Pastry (Part 2)

1. Temperature is key when laminating - if your butter is too cold when you go to roll it, it will crack. If it is too warm, it will simply leak out. Remove your butter from the fridge - it is ready to use when it reaches a temperature of 12°C. At this temperature, you will see that the butter is slightly firm but flexible.

2. Just before it is at temperature, remove your puff pastry dough from the fridge (around 4°C). Very lightly flour the dough, and roll it so that it is double the length of the butter block (40x25cm).

   

3. Place your butter into the centre of the dough so that the height of the dough and the butter match.

   

4. Fold the exposed sides of the dough into the centre so they meet in the middle.

   

5. Use your fingers to pinch the dough together to form a seam down the centre.

6. Using a sharp knife, carefully score the edges of the dough, where it is folded over the butter - this will release tension and make it easier to roll.

7. With this seam facing towards you, turn the dough 90 degrees and give the dough a quick roll to give it a little bit of width.

8. Turn the dough 90 degrees again so the seam is vertical and begin to roll the dough into a long, even rectangle roughly around 5mm thick.

9. Perform a single fold of the dough by taking one-third of the dough and folding it up, then taking the other third of dough and folding this over the top.

   

10. Wrap the dough and chill it in the fridge for 15 minutes.

11. Repeat this rolling and folding technique, chilling it in between each fold, performing a total of four single folds. Once you have finished the final fold, chill the dough for 1 hour.

Orange Gel

1. Squeeze fresh orange juice through a sieve and weigh it. Multiply that by 1% to get the weight of agar-agar needed.
2. Add the fresh juice and agar-agar to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Remove from heat, pour onto a tray, and refrigerate for an hour.
3. Once set, blend until it is a smooth gel and transfer to a piping bag.

Baking & Assembly

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175°C Non-Fan Assisted.

2. Remove the chilled pastry and cut thin strips (5-7mm in width) along the open seam side of the dough.

3. Lift the strips onto a lined baking tray, giving them enough space to spread. You will need 3 strips per mille-feuille.

4. Chill the strips for 15 minutes, then bake for 40-45 minutes until crispy to the touch. Allow to cool for 30 minutes.

5. Prepare the cremeux: if soft, whisk in a stand mixer until pipeable; if thick, scoop directly into a piping bag with a large round tip.

6. Place one strip of puff pastry on a plate. Pipe two long lines of cremeux and fill the centre with a line of orange gel.

   

7. Place a second layer of puff pastry on top and repeat the process.

8. Add a final layer of puff pastry, dust lightly with cocoa powder, and serve. This is best served as fresh as possible so that the puff pastry is crispy!