Recipe: Fresh Fruit Napoleons with Blackberry Curd 40

I did these blackberry curd & fresh fruit napoleons a while back for restaurant baking. I wished I would've had time to get better pictures.

This recipe is more suited for summer, but when winter rolls around, and the holidays have past - it is refreshing to see desserts that awaken memories of summers past - and that reminds you summer is right around the corner.

Fresh Fruit Napoleons
This recipe yields 20 servings.

16 sheets of frozen phyllo dough
1 cup butter (melted) [you can substitute "butter flavored" baking spray or earth balance sticks]
1/2 cup crystal sugar
2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
4 1/2 cups mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blue berries)

Whipped topping,
or hand whipped cream,
or sweetened whipped marscapone cheese

Pastry Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Now as stated in my former post (Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons) you need to work fast and follow certain guidelines when working with phyllo {Tip: When you are working with phyllo dough it is best to have a tray to lay out the sheets, then keep totally covered, under a damp kitchen towel. If exposed to air, the moisture from the phyllo dough will be wicked out and it will become dry and brittle - which means non workable for you. So work quickly.]

You will need 2 half sheet pans (jelly roll) lined with parchment, to bake 10 sheets on each pan.

Place a sheet of phyllo onto a jelly roll pan, brush with melted butter. Sprinkle crystal sugar. Top with another phyllo sheet and repeat these steps until 10 sheets are used. Make sure to repeat butter & sugar on the last (top piece). Repeat with second sheet pan.

Using a ruler - score each pastry stack with a pastry wheel or sharp paring knife into squares or rectangles of equal measurements. Bake in the preheated oven 10-12 minutes (pastry should be golden and crisp). Allow the baked pastry to cool. Do not handle the pastry until building your napoleons or the baked phyllo squares may crack.

Blackberry Curd Procedure:

In a sauce pan combine the blackberries, 1/2 cup of water and orange zest. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes more. Scrape berry contents into a food processor and pulse until smooth. (if you don't have a food processor, you can place the berry contents in a sieve over a bowl and using a ladle , gently push and rub the contents against the mesh, repeat this until most of the contents have been filtered through the sieve into the bowl. This will leave behind seeds and a few skins from the berries).

Return the berry contents back into the sauce pan (on medium heat) - stir in 1 cup of sugar and 4 tablespoons of butter.

Combine the cornstarch & cold water in a small bowl stirring briskly. With a wire whisk add the cornstarch mixture to the berry contents in the saucepan . Stir until thick and bubbling. Stir for 3 minutes more. Remove from heat , scrape into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap - allow to cool for 2 hours or over night.

Napoleon Assembly:

Place a small dallop of blackberry curd onto the center of your serving plate.
Place a baked phyllo square (sugar side down), add 1 tablespoon of curd onto the center of the pastry square. Add (by pressing) enough of the mixed berries to cover the blackberry curd.

Finish by piping or adding rounded dollops of your favorite topping (Whipped topping,
or hand whipped cream, or sweetened whipped marscapone cheese) then add another pastry squared (sugar side up) to top.

There are many ways to finish this dessert , you could make it much fancier than this- drizzling berry syrup onto it, or around the base, using pastry cream on top of the blackberry curd - the combinations are endless.

Related Posts:

• Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons
• Recipes for Muffins, Scones & Pastries featured on this blog
• Dessert Costing : Banana Strawberry Torte

Recipes for Muffins Scones and Pastries 7

Here is a list of muffin and pastry formulas that have been featured on Renaissance Culinaire. Some of these formulas are commercial baking formulas that can be reduced for home use. This page will continue to be updated as more recipes are added.

Thanks Darwin Bell For Use of his Photo.

Fresh Fruit Napoleons with Blackberry Curd

Banana - Rum Napoleons

Croissant with a starter

Hot Pepper Gingerbread Muffins with Orange-Maple Butter

Gulab Jamun | Indian Sweets

Pate A Choux , Éclairs & Cream Puffs revisited

Callebaut Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Scones

Crispies (Italian puff pastry based, similar tasting as American Elephant Ear)

Scratch Italian Puff Pastry

Recipe: Banana - Rum Napoleons 9

I am a fan of bananas, and this Banana-Rum Napoleon is a recipe to satisfy your dessert cravings, and it is low-fat to boot!

Thanks to ian_ransley for use of his photo.

I love napoleons, they work really well in a restaurant kitchen, because they are relatively easy to assemble, if you prep before hand, and the presentation looks very elegant, and your patrons or guests will think allot of time was spent
creating it.

Sweet Nothings
Low Fat
Low Calorie Desserts

This recipe is adapted from Sweet Nothings by
Jill O'Connor. It makes 10 portions.

If you aren't feeling like bananas - You can
substitute peach, nectarine, or a favorite
berry puree - and flavor
with a liqueur of your choice.

It is better to prep the pastry in
advance(up to 24hrs ahead),
to speed up the production of this dessert.
The cream filling cannot be made more than
2 hrs ahead of time if using the original recipe.

If using real cream, you must make right before serving.

For The Pastry

• 6 Sheets of phyllo dough (12 x 17 inches), thaw if frozen
• Butter flavored vegetable cooking spray.
• 6 TB granulated sugar

Tip: When working with phyllo dough - to thaw, allow the box of phyllo dough to rest out on a counter if the inside temp is relatively low, it will take 3-5 hrs for proper thaw. Otherwise put in the fridge 2-3 days ahead of time. Take out as many sheets as needed, then wrap the remaining in plastic wrap , tightly and use within 5 days. When you are working with phyllo dough it is best to have a tray to lay out the sheets, then keep totally covered, under a damp kitchen towel. If exposed to air, the moisture from the phyllo dough will be wicked out and it will become dry and brittle - which means non workable for you. So work quickly.

Procedure:

1. Preheat Oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet w/ parchment paper.
2. Place the first phyllo sheet on a clean flat work surface. Spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with 1 tsp of the sugar. Add a new sheet onto the previous prepared layer. Repeat as instructed above, using 3 of the 6 phyllo sheets only.
3. Cut the layered phyllo into ten 6 x 3 inch rectangles. Place rectangles on prepped baking sheet. Bake in oven until crisp and golden - 3-5 minutes. WATCH THE BAKEOFF - thin phyllo burns very quickly, so don't get distracted while waiting for them to brown.
4. Remove from oven and transfer phyllo triangles to a rack to completely cool.
5. Repeat the above 4 steps again with the remaining 3 phyllo sheets.

{There will be scraps - the books says to discard, but as anyone in the culinary trade knows - use everything you can, so save the scraps and bake last, use as garnish for another dessert, or a smoothy etc.}


For The Cream Filling:

• 1 1/4 cups pureed banana (1 1/2 - 2 large bananas) OR Measure out your favorite substituted puree - peach, nectarine, or a favorite berry puree.
• 1 to 2 TB freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 1/2 TB Dark Jamaican Rum OR If using other fruit, the use the liqueur of your choice.
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups low-fat non-dairy topping
• 4 medium bananas, sliced on the diagonal, 1/4 inch thick
• confectioners sugar for top of finished pastry

Procedure:

1. Place pureed fruit, lime juice, Rum or liqueur, vanilla and nondairy topping in a bowl. Fold together ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
2. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Dessert Assembly:

1. Just before serving place a phyllo rectangle onto a plate. Spoon 1/4 cup of the banana cream onto the pastry.
2. Top the cream with 8-10 banana sliced OR your substitute fruit pieces other berries.
3. Top the filling with a 2nd phyllo rectangle, sieve confectioners sugar over the top.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have created 10 napoleons.

To create a decorative pattern - such as a herringbone or cross hatch : heat a metal skewer over a gas flame or use a mini blow torch, until very hot. Quickly lay the hot metal skewer on the top of your napoleon for the desired marking, repeat until you have the desired effect.


For an nice presentation - garnish plate with drizzles of fruit puree; add a bit of mint, or some citrus zest curls.

105 calories per serving; 1.5 grams of fat - 13% calories from fat.

VEGAN:

This dessert can easily be converted into a Vegan dessert: Use melted Earth's Balance in place of the cooking spray - or use soy milk to brush over the layers of phyllo (you might need to adjust baking times, so watch the pastry closely). Replace the "non-dairy topping" with silken tofu. Yum!

Full FAT:
And for those of you who cannot stand fake cream - go ahead and use the real deal, just use heavy cream in place of "nondairy topping", as heavy cream has a higher fat content which will help stabilize it a bit better than traditional whipping cream. Whip this up right before serving, as real WC will separate quickly. You may need to adjust the amount of puree also - try a little at a time.

Original recipe© Jill O'Connor.