Mille et une feuilles with golden rasperries

Preparation

1. Step 1

   To make the cream filling, scald the milk with the vanilla bean and one-quarter cup of the sugar.

2. Step 2

   Beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until thick. Sprinkle in rice flour and cornstarch, and continue beating until well mixed.

3. Step 3

   Remove the vanilla bean from the milk. Beat half the milk by droplets into the egg mixture. Return this to the remaining hot milk and bring to a boil, whisking very fast to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl to cool. Rub the top with butter to prevent a skin from forming. Cover with plastic wrap and cool completely.

4. Step 4

   Immediately before using, fold in softly whipped cream with a wooden spoon.

5. Step 5

   To make the mille et une feuilles, roll the puff pastry into a rectangle three-quarter-inch thick. Cut this into thirds. Roll each third into rectangles of equal size, one-sixteenth-inch thick. For easy handling, cut each rectangle into two smaller rectangles, each five-inches by nine inches.

6. Step 6

   Spray baking sheets with water and place pastry rectangles on them. Chill for at least one-half hour.

7. Step 7

   Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove pastry from refrigerator and prick evenly with the tine of a fork. Bake until evenly browned, or about 20 minutes. Cool pastry on racks.

8. Step 8

   After adding the whipped cream to the filling, layer it with the strips, four high. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Decorate with golden raspberries.

9. Step 9

   To serve, slice with a serrated knife into serving pieces.