Champagne Poached Strawberry Cream Puff

Hello lovelies!! 

    Plans for the long weekend? Shaun and I are Minnesota. He has business to tend to and, thankfully, we happen to be close friends with his colleague and his colleague’s wife!!  Win, win!  Now, I am not entertaining for Memorial Day but if you are, you may want to serve your guest this delicious dessert that I created last week….a layer of whipped cream, mascarpone and strawberries poached in champagne between two flakey and buttery rounds of puff pastry. Enjoy!

You will need:

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (defrosted according to the package directions)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon of cold water

1 cup cold heavy cream 

1 tablespoon sugar 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1/4 cup mascarpone 

2 cups champagne

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups of strawberries, green tops removed 

6 mint leaves for garnish

Prepare ahead of time:

Poached Strawberries 

In a small sauce pan combine champagne and sugar. On medium heat bring to a simmer, and once the sugar is fully dissolved, add strawberries. Simmer for 10 minutes. Pour both strawberries and champagne in a glass or ceramic bowl and allow to cool before covering and placing in the refrigerator for 2 hours or more.  

Whipped Cream

Pour the cream into the bowl of a electric mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk until the liquid starts to thicken, and then add the sugar and vanilla. When the cream reaches the point of light and creamy, yet firm, consistency, stop whisking.   With a wooden spoon fold the mascarpone in to the whipped cream. Place the mixture back in to the refrigerator cover for 30 mins to stiffen up a bit.  

To assemble: 

I would bake the puff pastry thirty minutes before you would like to serve dessert. 

1. Unfold dough on to a lightly floured surface. To make round layers, I used a biscuit cutter, to which will give you 6 rounds equaling 12 layers. Place rounds a cookie sheet that is lined with either parchment paper or a french silicone liner. This helps prevent browning on the bottom. Beat one egg and the teaspoon of water together in small bowl. With a pastry brush, brush the tops of each round. Bake according to the package directions. 

2. While the puff pastry is baking, prepare strawberries. Remove berries from the liquid and place on a cutting board and slice. The liquid can be thrown out. 

3. Once the the rounds are out of the oven and are cool enough to handle, put apart each round creating two layers. You are basically making a whip cream/berry sandwich of goodness. On the bottom, half place a healthy dollop (about 2-3 tablespoons) of whip cream then, layer the strawberries. Place a about a teaspoon of whip cream on top of the berry layer then top the  “lid” with a berry and a mint leaf. Serve!