Green Tea Napoleon with Blueberry Sauce

So, when I was in culinary school we had to do a 5-course meal for part of our final. We had a long, long, long list of ingredients that we were required to use. First off, let me just say that only three of us took that final. The class started with 14 people, then it went down to 8, and then only three of us graduated. The three girls of the class. If that doesn’t say “girl power”, I don’t know what does. Spice Girls. Damn straight. Represent.

Anyway, the other two girls were going to do an Italian themed menu (and so were the guys, but they didn’t show up for the final) because, with that list of ingredients, that was what made the most sense. But me, apparently I don’t like to make sense. I don’t make sense. I’m a misunderstood soul. Just kidding. But I decided to do…drum rolllllllll………..JAPANESE. Which, I will say, was really hard to do with those ingredients. I mean, they don’t use a lot of prosciutto and goat cheese in Japanese cooking. But I’m somewhat ambitious. I usually don’t follow through with my ambitious plans, but I have always tended to dream big. Most things usually just don’t happen. Don’t judge me. DON’T EVEN LOOK AT ME.

So, for my first dish, I did a hot pot. Because, what better way than a hot pot to just take a bunch of ingredients and throw them in and check them off the list? It had duck, chicken, beef and a bunch of veggies. I also did a sushi roll, using what I mentioned earlier, the prosciutto and goat cheese. And I made a Chawan Mushi (say that out loud, I love the way it sounds. SAY IT), which is essentially a savory custard with ingredients like mushrooms and shrimp. I served it with a broth-type sauce. For the main dish I made lamb chops with a pomegranate sauce.

But this post is not about any of those things. This post…this post is about the DESSERT. Which, for my final, was a trio. It had a fruit salad, a piece of white chocolate cake, and this Green Tea Napoleon. One of my closest and longest friends, Jose, helped me with the idea when I was creating the menu for the final. Originally I made a blackberry sauce, but I don’t like blackberries (it was a required ingredient on the list). So I made a blueberry sauce this time. By the way, If you want the blueberry sauce to be super thick, you can follow the instructions below using the cornstarch slurry. If you want it thinner, skip the cornstarch. For the pictures, I thought it would be better to have it thicker. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have bothered.

I really like this recipe. When you think about it, it is actually quite simple. The only components are the puff pastry, the green tea pastry cream, and blueberry sauce.

Now, good night. I’m writing this at 4:30 A.M., so I’m tired.

Green Tea Napoleon with Blueberry Sauce

Makes 2 Napoleons, enough for 4 people

Napoleon

1 batch Green Tea Pastry Cream

1 sheet puff pastry

Granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Blueberry sauce

Green Tea Pastry Cream

2 cups (1 pint) milk (I used reduced fat, but it doesn’t really matter)

4 egg yolks

2 whole eggs

1 3/4 oz. cornstarch

4 oz. granulated sugar

1 pinch kosher salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 oz. unsalted butter

1 1/2 tbsp. matcha (green tea powder)

Blueberry Sauce

1 cup blueberries

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. cornstarch (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slightly thaw the puff pastry. Prick with a fork to ensure it doesn’t rise too much in the oven. Cut into thirds lengthwise (you can use the folds already in the pastry as a guideline) and then in half crosswise, creating 6 rectangles. Sprinkle a little sugar onto each piece and place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Place a metal cooling rack on top of the pastry, again, to keep it from rising too much. Bake until the bottom side is lightly golden, about 15-20 minutes. Take out of the oven and, being careful not to burn yourself, flip each pastry over. Replace the cooling rack and bake for about another 10 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

For the pastry cream, place the milk in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking here and there so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch, sugar and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Add the egg yolks and whole eggs and whisk until smooth. Slowly drizzle a ladle full of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisk vigorously at the same time so that the eggs do not curdle. Repeat this about 2 more times until the egg mixture is warmed. Slowly whisk the tempered eggs into the pot of milk. Place over a medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens into a sturdy custard. Take off the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract, butter, and matcha until incorporated. Pour the custard into a shallow bowl and chill in the refrigerator.

For the blueberry sauce, place all ingredients except cornstarch in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil. Continue to boil until thickened. If you desired, you can take about a tablespoon of water and stir in the cornstarch to make a slurry. You may add that the blueberry sauce if you want a fairly thick sauce.

To assemble the napoleon, fill a large piping bag with the pastry cream and cut a decent-sized triangle off the tip, leaving an opening. Place one of the pastries on a plate and pipe a layer of the pastry cream on top, starting from one short side, going down in a sig-zag motion to cover the surface, to the other short end. Place another layer of pastry, then pastry cream, then one more pastry. Pipe a swirl of pastry cream on top if you’d like. Serve with the blueberry sauce.