Merengue Strudel

Today, on to old-fashioned desserts: Meringue puff pastry! Yes, it may be one of the oldest desserts in history, but for that very reason, you surely have more than one anecdote to tell regarding these delicious puff pastries.

Who hasn't gotten all dirty eating one of them? Who has tried by all means not to end up with all their clothes (and by clothes, I mean their hair) covered in powdered sugar or meringue?

As much as we have tried to keep our composure and finish in the most dignified way possible… millefeuille is unpredictable, you never know where the meringue, icing sugar or puff pastry will come out…

But hey, we've had our fun! With how delicious they are, we'll forgive them everything.

Plus, since they're so easy, quick and only require 3 ingredients (puff pastry, egg and sugar), it's not a good idea to be picky. The best thing is to enjoy them like children and stop fooling around.

The puff pastry in this recipe is not homemade, but if you buy a good quality one made with butter, of course, it will turn out spectacular. Keep in mind that the puff pastry will shrink a little when baking, about 2 centimeters more or less. In the recipe I give you my measurements so you can guide yourself and make it without problems.

Meringue is super easy, the KitchenAid will practically make it by itself; what you do need to control very well is the syrup, for this, you need a thermometer that tells you the exact temperature it should reach to obtain a soft ball-like syrup.

As for the meringue millefeuille, it is a very satisfying and successful dessert. So go ahead and make them at home because they are very easy.

T&G acacia wood scoop and Caractère de Revol porcelain espresso cup

Ingredients for 6 millefeuilles

1 sheet of butter puff pastry
3 egg whites (about 100 g)
230 g of sugar
75 ml of water
Powdered sugar

Preparation

Puff pastry:

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC with top and bottom heat and the rack in the middle. Place the puff pastry sheet on a baking tray with baking paper on the base; use a fork to make holes all over the sheet.
2. We place another sheet of baking paper on top of the puff pastry sheet and place a baking tray on top to prevent the puff pastry sheet from rising and deforming.
3. We bake the puff pastry sheet for 15 minutes. After this time, we uncover the sheet and remove the top baking paper so that it browns, for around 7-10 minutes.
4. We remove the sheet from the oven and now we are going to turn up the oven to maximum power to caramelize the puff pastry a little. While the oven is heating up, we sprinkle the puff pastry with icing sugar.
5. We put the puff pastry back in and leave it for JUST a minute. We remove it and let it cool completely. This step is completely optional, if you don't want to caramelize it, don't do it.

Meringue:

1. In a saucepan, put the water and sugar over medium-low heat WITHOUT STIRRING and let it reach a temperature of 100 ºC. When it reaches this temperature, you can start beating the egg whites.
2. Clean the mixer bowl thoroughly with a few drops of lemon and kitchen paper. Put the egg whites inside and attach the whisk attachment. Begin to beat at medium speed.
3. Once the syrup reaches 116ºC, remove from the heat and when it stops bubbling, start pouring it over the egg whites, while continuing to beat. To avoid splashing, let the syrup fall in a very fine stream over the edge of the bowl constantly.
4. We continue beating at medium-high speed until the meringue is dense, shiny and more or less at room temperature.

Mille-feuille:

1. We spread the meringue evenly over the sheet. We place the other sheet on top and, being very careful not to break it, we press down. With a spatula we smooth out the meringue at the edges until it is completely level. My sheet measured 28 cm before baking. Once baked it measures 26 cm. With a serrated knife I cut it in half once baked, so now I have 2 sheets of 26x13.
2. Now, all that's left to do is make the portions. We have 2 options: the first is to let it rest in the fridge until the next day so that the meringue settles and becomes firmer and thus we can make it more safely; the second option is the riskiest, if you're brave, you can cut it now. It's up to you!
3. Finally, once the portions have been cut, sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy.

KitchenAid food processor and Pallarès kitchen knife