Anyone in the mood for a delicious dessert?
Donal Skehan has got a lot of incredibly recipes under his belt. And many of them are just perfect for spring.
His blackberry mille fuille mess looks just delicious… and it’s not all that difficult to make.
Here’s what you need to do.
Ingredients (serves 6)
For the pastry:
- 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry
- 4 tbsp icing sugar
For the blackberries:
- 350g blackberries, half left whole and half cut in half
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- Zest of 1 lime
For the cream:
- 600ml double cream
- 200g mascarpone cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/ Gas Mark 7.
2. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper and place a puff pastry sheet on each tray. Dust each sheet with icing sugar then place another sheet of parchment on top. Cover each tray with another baking tray – this prevents the pastry from rising too much.
3. Transfer to the oven to bake for about 25 minutes, checking after 15, until the sheets are golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and transfer each sheet to a wire rack to cool.
4. Whilst the pastry cools, macerate the blackberries – add them to a bowl along with the caster sugar and lime zest, setting aside for 30 minutes.
5. Add the mascarpone and double cream into a bowl along with the vanilla, icing sugar and whisk until soft peaks are formed – be careful not to over whip.
6. To assemble, break the puff pastry into rough shards. Add a dollop of cream to the base of your serving dish and place ⅓ of the pastry shards on top. Top with ⅓ of the whipped cream then drizzle over some of the pistachio paste and ⅓ of the berries, along with some of their macerating juices. Repeat this process until you have a layer of cream as the top layer. Add the remaining blackberries and finally finish with the chopped pistachios and some mint leaves.
Donal will be appearing on the Dunnes Stores Quality Kitchen Stage at Bord Bia Bloom, which takes place Thursday May 29th – June 2nd 2025. Tickets are priced at €30 and up to two children (under 16) go free with every ticket purchased. Visit bordbiabloom.com for further information.