Raspberry Napoleons

My son chose this dessert as part of our cooking date.  It was incredible!  I bet it would be even better during the summer when the raspberries are straight from the farmers market!

This is adapted from Everyday Food Magazine.  It calls for home made vanilla pudding which is well worth the effort!!  And actually, it's not hard to make at all.  I've included the recipe.

Raspberry Napoleons:
all purpose flour for rolling pastry
1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed
1/2 recipe cooled vanilla pudding (recipe follows)  please don't use store bought, I promise you won't regret it!
1 container fresh raspberries
confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pasty 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 to prevent pastry from puffing up unevenly.  Bake, occasionally pressing top sheet down until pastry is golden.  In my oven it only took 20 minutes, but it can take up to 40, so keep an eye on it.  Remove the top sheet and parchment, and let cool

With a serrated knife, carefully trim and discard edges; cut into 12 equal pieces ( this is for 4 servings, I was able to stretch it to 6 servings by cutting into 18 pieces).

To assemble, put a large dollop of pudding on the pastry piece, top with a few raspberries and another dollop of pudding, layer a 2nd piece of pastry, repeat the pudding and raspberries, and top it with a 3rd piece of pastry.  Dust with confectioner's sugar.

This is a dessert that I thought looked lovely and delicious, but had my son not requested it, I wouldn't have made it.  Mainly because it took a little more time and with 4 little ones I am sometimes short on time... can you relate?  Well, I am SO glad I did.  I will make it again for sure!  It is one that takes a little more effort, but I really think it's worth it.  And it looks so impressive!

What have you made that took extra effort but you found it worth it?  I'd love to hear from you!

Vanilla Pudding:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups milk
4 large egg yolks
2 tbs unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl;  set aside.  In a medium saucepan, off heat, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Very gradually (a few tablespoons at a time) whisk in milk, taking care to dissolve cornstarch.  Whisk in egg yolks.

Whisking constantly, cook over medium heat until the first large bubble forms and sputters.  Reduce heat to low, still whisking (wow, there's a lot of whisking in this recipe), cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat and immediately pour through sieve into bowl.  Stir butter and vanilla into hot pudding.

Place plastic wrap directly on surface of pudding (this prevents skin from forming), chill at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.  Before serving, whisk (again) pudding until smooth.