Chocolate And Raspberry Napoleons Recipes

CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Heat the milk in a pot over medium-high heat until it just comes to a boil and remove from heat.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick then whisk in the flour.
• Gradually whisk in the milk until smooth and return the mixture to the pot.
• Bring to a boil, whisking until thickened then reduce heat to low and whisk for a further 2 minutes.
• Stir the Brandy into the Heavy Cream, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 400 F.
• Sprinkle a baking sheet with cold water.
• Roll out the pastry to a rectangle slightly larger than the baking sheet.
• Transfer the pastry to the sheet, and allow the edges to hang over the sheet.
• Chill for 15 minutes.
• Prick the pastry all over with a fork then cover with parchment paper and set a wire rack on top.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until it just begins to brown.
• Turn the sheet and rack over then slide the sheet back under the pastry to bake the other side for 5 minutes or until both sides are browned.
• Remove from the oven and slide onto a cutting board.
• With a large sharp knife trim the edges to neaten and then cut lengthwise into 3 equal strips and allow to cool.
• Whip the heavy cream until stiff then stir it into the pasty cream with 2/3 of the melted dark chocolate.
• Spread the remaining melted dark chocolate over one of the pasty strips.
• Place a pastry strip on the serving plate and spread half the cream on it. Carefully place fresh raspberries in a single layer over the cream then place the remaining strip on top.
• Use a Spoon to drizzle the melted white chocolate over the top of the Napoleon.
• Keep chilled until serving.

CHOCOLATE AND FRESH RASPBERRY CREAM NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Cook the 12 ounces of raspberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until the raspberries are broken down into a sauce. Line a fine mesh strainer with 2 layers of cheese cloth and set over a bowl. Pour the raspberry sauce over the cheese cloth to remove the seeds. Gather up the ends of the cheese cloth and press out all the raspberry juice with the back of a spatula. You should be able to get at least a half cup of juice from this amount of berries, but I can usually press out almost 3/4 of a cup. Pour the raspberry juice back in the saucpan. Simmer over medium to medium-high heat until the juice reduces to a 1/4 cup. It will be a very rich red and concentrated sauce.
• Set aside to cool completely. To speed up the cooling, the sauce can be placed in the refrigerator to chill.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment, whip the cream on high speed until stiff. Remove whipped cream to another bowl and set aside.
• In the same bowl of the stand mixer (no need to clean the bowl first), with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until very smooth. Add the 1/4 cup of prepared and cooled fresh raspberry sauce and mix on medium to high speed until combined and completely smooth. Then add the marshmallow cream and mix again on medium to high speed until combined. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in reserved whipped cream until combined.
• Spoon fresh raspberry cream into a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip and pipe it onto the top of one chocolate cookie. Top with a second cookie and pipe on more raspberry cream. Repeat until you have a fourth cookie on top. Then swirl on a smaller amount of raspberry cream to the top cookie. Gently press in a fresh raspberry. Use a thin metal spatula to transfer finished napoleon to a serving plate or platter. Repeat until all napoleons are finished. Alternately, you could use a small spoon to layer on the raspberry cream, for a more free-form look. Right before serving, sprinkle powdered sugar lightly over the tops of the napoleons.
• Serve immediately for a crispy chocolate cookie experience. Or refrigerate for at least 2 hours for a softer chocolate cookie. Both ways are completely delicious, but two entirely different experiences. When the napoleons are left to mingle and chill for a couple hours, the chocolate cookies take on the moisture of the fresh raspberry cream, yielding a dessert that is eaten just like a small layer cake. It's very fun!

CHOCOLATE-BERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Roll out 1 puff pastry sheet into a 10-inch square; cut into 2 1/2-by-5-inch rectangles (8 total). Sandwich between 2 unlined rimmed baking sheets and bake at 400 degrees F until golden, 30 minutes. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cool. Cook 1/3 cup milk, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in a small skillet over medium heat, whisking, until thick. Stir in 2 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate; cool. Fold in 1 1/2 cups whipped cream. To assemble, layer 2 pastry rectangles with the chocolate cream and raspberries. Dust with confectioners' sugar.