Chocolate Berry Napoleons Recipes

CHOCOLATE NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a 12-in. square. Cut into twelve 4x3-in. rectangles. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 9-12 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool., In a small bowl, whisk milk and sour cream until smooth. Add pudding mix; whisk for 2 minutes or until blended. Refrigerate for 5 minutes. , To assemble, split each pastry in half. Spoon pudding mixture over bottom halves and replace tops. Combine confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth; drizzle over top. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Serve immediately.

SAVORY CHOCOLATE NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Use an offset spatula to spread a 1/8-inch-thick layer of tempered chocolate over a sheet of acetate. When the chocolate begins to set but is not yet hard, use a sharp paring knife or rolling cutter to cut 1-inch squares. When the chocolate is set, peel off the acetate and break apart the chocolate squares.
• Place the softened cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Add the chives, paprika, salt and pepper and turn the mixer on medium speed. Mix just until combined.
• Place the cream cheese mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe a dollop of the cream cheese onto a chocolate square. Top with a square of chocolate. Pipe another dollop of cream cheese and cover with another square of chocolate. Viola!

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.

RASPBERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry to a 10-by-15-inch rectangle. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Prick pastry all over with a fork. Cover completely with another sheet of parchment paper; weight with another baking sheet (same size or slightly smaller) to prevent pastry from puffing up unevenly. Bake, occasionally pressing top sheet down, until pastry is golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove top sheet and parchment, and let pastry cool.
• Transfer pastry to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, carefully trim and discard edges; cut into 12 equal pieces.
• Dividing evenly, put a large dollop of pudding (2 to 3 tablespoons) on 8 of the 12 pastry pieces; top with raspberries and a little more pudding.
• Assemble napoleons on serving plates: For each napoleon, stack two pieces of pastry already topped with pudding and raspberries, then top with a plain piece. Dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.
• Make Raspberry Sauce (optional): In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup raspberry jam and 1 tablespoon water; pass through a fine-mesh sieve. Thin with additional water if needed.
• Garnish plate with Raspberry Sauce, if desired.

STRAWBERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Combine pudding mix and cold milk; fold in whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Unfold pastry on a cool, lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along fold marks, then cut each strip into four equal pieces. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
• Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet, and cool.
• Split pastries into 2 layers, setting the 8 best looking tops aside. Spread 8 bottom layers with dollops of the pudding mixture. Top each with a layer of strawberries, a small amount of pudding, and another pastry layer. (A small amount of the pudding mix on top of the berries will help keep the layers together.) Spread with remaining pudding mixture and strawberries, and top with remaining pastry layers (the best looking ones). Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Line a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside. Place raspberries (if using fresh raspberries, reserve 1/2 cup for garnish) in a medium skillet over medium heat. Simmer until raspberries begin to break down and liquid is released, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer raspberries to a food processor, and puree, about 20 seconds. Pass through a fine sieve. Set aside to cool.
• Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside. Bring a stockpot 1/4 full of water to a boil. Let simmer. In a medium stainless-steel bowl, whisk together egg yolks, 2 tablespoons sugar, corn syrup, and kirsch or champagne; place over simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until mixture thickens (when whisk is lifted over the mixture, the ribbonlike trail it leaves on the surface should hold its shape for 1 or 2 seconds), about 4 minutes. Transfer bowl to the ice-water bath; whisk mixture while it cools. Add 3/4 cup raspberry puree to mixture; whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on high speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. While mixer is running, gradually add remaining 6 tablespoons sugar; beat until very stiff, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Beat cream with whisk attachment until stiff; fold into egg whites.
• Fold raspberry mixture into egg whites and cream. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan; cover with plastic wrap. Transfer to the freezer; freeze until hardened, at least 4 hours. This can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
• To make the raspberry sauce, stir superfine sugar into the remaining raspberry puree (about 2 tablespoons). Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• To serve, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter (2 1/2 inches across at the widest point) to cut out 4 hearts from the semifreddo. Divide the raspberry sauce between 2 dessert plates. Place a chocolate heart, off center, on top of the raspberry sauce. Place a semifreddo heart on each chocolate heart and repeat layering until there are 3 layers of chocolate and 2 layers of semifreddo, ending with a chocolate heart. Garnish with the reserved fresh raspberries (if using), sift confectioners' sugar over the raspberries, if desired.

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND SUMMER BERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Stir white chocolate in large bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Bring milk to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk milk barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove chocolate from heat. Bring milk to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk milk into chocolate. Let chocolate mixture cool until just beginning to thicken, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
• Using electric mixer, beat cream and vanilla in another large bowl until medium-firm peaks form. Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Cover and refrigerate.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 17x11x1-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out 1 pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 15x12-inch rectangle. Cut crosswise into three 12x5-inch rectangles. Repeat rolling and cutting with remaining pastry sheet to make six 12x5-inch pastry rectangles total. Transfer 2 pastry rectangles to prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly. Cover remaining pastry rectangles and chill.
• Pierce pastry rectangles on baking sheet all over with fork. Top with second piece of parchment. Place another 17x11x1-inch baking sheet atop parchment to weigh down pastry rectangles as they cook. Bake pastries until edges and bottoms are golden, about 10 minutes. Remove baking sheet and parchment paper from atop pastries. Turn pastries over. Continue baking uncovered until bottoms are golden, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer pastries to rack; cool. Repeat piercing and baking with remaining 4 pastry rectangles in 2 more batches. (White chocolate cream and pad pastry rectangles can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep cream refrigerated. Store pastry rectangles airtight at room temperature.)
• Place 1 pastry rectangle on work surface. Spread 1 1/2 cups of chocolate cream over pastry. Gently toss all berries in large bowl. Arrange of berries in single layer over chocolate cream. Place second pastry rectangle atop berries. Spread 1 cups of chocolate cream atop second pastry rectangle. Top with of berries. Top with third pastry rectangle. Repeat with remaining 3 pastry rectangles, chocolate cream and berries to form second napoleon. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Refrigerate.) Using serrated knife, cut each pastry crosswise into 10 equal pieces. Sprinkle powdered sugar over each and serve.

BERRY NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out pastry on lightly floured surface to 12-inch square. Cut out two 4x5-inch rectangles and transfer to ungreased cookie sheet (reserve remaining pastry for another use). Brush pastries with glaze. Mix sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom and sprinkle over pastries. Bake until puffed and brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.
• Drain syrup from raspberries into heavy small saucepan. Boil until thickened slightly, about 4 minutes. Combine raspberries and sliced strawberries in small bowl. Add reduced syrup and remaining 1/4 teaspoon cardamom. (Berry mixture can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Split each pastry into 2 layers. Place bottoms on plates. Layer with frozen yogurt, some of berry mixture, then pastry tops. Spoon a few berries atop each pastry and serve.