The classic Napoleon Dessert (mille-feuille) includes flaky puff pastry layered with creamy vanilla pastry cream.
It's one of those classic French pastries that exemplifies everything I love about French pastry - It's elegantly simple and deliciously indulgent.
The Napoleon (Mille Feuille) is One of the World's Most Popular Desserts
The Napoleon dessert is a popular French pastry for good reason. It's incredibly delicious.
If I could, I would eat a slice for breakfast, as a mid-afternoon snack, and for dessert later that night. (Who am I kidding with all this talk of wishes? I've totally made that three-times-a-day situation happen in my life.)
The first time I ever ate a slice of a true European-style Napoleon pastry was sitting on the patio of a restaurant called The Alpenrose on a gorgeous fall afternoon in Vail, one of my favorite Colorado mountain towns.
If you're anything like me, the pastry case at a good European restaurant is impossible to resist. And that day, the Napoleon was calling my name.
The next day, I got to work figuring out how to replicate that experience at home and have been making this recipe on the regular ever since.
The Napoleon is everything I love about most French pastries - it's rich and delicate, not too sweet and filled with pastry cream.
"Mille Feuille" Means a Thousand Leaves
A lovely and appropriate name for this dessert, wouldn't you say? The name comes from the "thousand" layers of puff pastry used to make it.
Puff pastry is kind of a beast to make, requiring the baker to roll out the dough, fold it over on itself, refrigerate, roll it out again, fold it again, refrigerate.... and repeat. At least 4 more times. Who has time for that?
I've made puff pastry from scratch a few times and while it IS super satisfying when it comes out right, it's also super frustrating when it doesn't. Also, most of the times I want to make a Napoleon, I don't really have time for all that rolling and refrigerating.
Happily, packages of frozen puff pastry can be purchased in the freezer section of nearly every grocery store. Isn't modern life wonderful?
Store bought puff pastry makes this impressive looking pastry SO simple to make, that it just might become one of your favorite recipes.
How to Make the Classic French Napoleon Dessert
The Napoleon is seriously one of the easiest desserts you can make. It's even something you can whip up mostly on a whim.
Pastry cream is primarily made with sugar, milk, and eggs - ingredients many of us have on hand most of the time. Everything else (some gelatin and frozen puff pastry) can be picked up with a quick trip to the market.
As long as you account for a few hours to allow your pastry cream to chill, making a Napoleon is as simple as making pudding.
You can also make the pastry cream filling days, weeks, or months in advance. It will keep well in the refrigerator for several days and can even be frozen for up to three months. Click here for the pastry cream recipe and all the information you need about cooking and storing it.
How to make pastry cream:
To Fondant or Not to Fondant? That is the Question.
Traditionally, the Mille Feuille is made up of three layers of puff pastry and two layers of pastry cream. Check, and check. But, it's also sometimes glazed with vanilla and chocolate fondant, which creates a lovely design on the top, but isn't really necessary.
Just as often, it's dusted with a layer of confectioner's sugar or cocoa - a much simpler and just as lovely option.
This is how my Napoleon Dessert at The Alpenrose was presented to me, and it's what I've chosen to do in this recipe. I hope, just like me, you fall desperately in love with it.
More Popular Recipes that Use Pastry Cream:
- Cannoli Napoleon: This Cannoli Napoleon marries two delicious desserts, the Italian Cannoli and the French Napoleon, into one delicious, flaky, creamy pastry.
- Coconut Cream Cake: This coconut cake is light, tender, and exceptionally soft and fluffy. Filled with a super thick layer of coconut cream and covered in coconut buttercream, every bite is so rich and creamy it practically melts in your mouth.
- Extra Creamy Coconut Cream Pie: This Coconut Cream Pie, with its rich cream filling and buttery toasted almond crust, is the ultimate coconut lover's indulgence.
- Easy Homemade Doughnuts: This doughnut recipe can be used to make pretty much any kind of homemade doughnut you can imagine, including cream filled.
- Doughnut Holes Filled with Salted Caramel Pastry Cream: Tender yeast raised doughnut holes are filled with salted caramel pastry cream and drizzled with salted caramel sauce.
- Profiteroles {Cream Puffs}: Profiteroles (cream puffs) are buttery little balls of choux pastry (pâte à choux) baked until light, tender, and puffed up to form a hollow center. They are the perfect vessel for pastry cream, ice cream, whipped cream, all varieties of savory ingredients, or anything your imagination and taste buds, can dream up.
- Pasty Cream Filled Chocolate Eclairs: Eclairs are buttery logs of choux pastry (pâte à choux) baked until light, tender, and puffed up to form a hollow center that’s perfect for filling with luscious vanilla pastry cream and topping with a rich chocolate glaze.
- Mini Butterscotch Eclairs: These buttery little two-bite mini éclairs are bursting with butterscotch pastry cream and covered butterscotch sauce.
- Apple Butter and Pastry Cream Hand Pies: These buttery little hand pies are filled with almond pastry cream and apple butter. They are flaky, creamy, & packed with warm apple flavor.
- Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Mascarpone Cream: Olive Oil Cake is exceptionally moist and flavorful, with a fine, tender crumb that’s not too sweet and positively delicious. On it’s own, it’s one of my all-time favorite cakes, but split in half and filled with a thick layer of Lemon Mascarpone Pastry Cream takes it to a whole other level of YUM.
- Strawberries and Cream Pie: Vanilla pastry cream and fresh strawberry pie filling are layered inside a flaky pie crust for a strawberries & cream pie that is the perfect summer treat.
- Peaches and Cream Crepe Cake: This crepe cake includes layer upon layer of buttery crepes, vanilla pastry cream and fresh peaches, and is covered with a generous layer whipped cream and more fresh peaches.
- Amaretto Custard Blackberry Tarts: Buttery, flaky pasty crust is brushed with jam, filled with creamy amaretto custard, and topped with fresh blackberries for delicious individual fruit custard tarts that are simple, elegant, and delicious.
- Chocolate Cream Pie: This Chocolate Cream Pie is what happens when you take really good pastry cream, add copious amounts of bittersweet chocolate, spread all that rich, chocolate dreaminess into a crispy Toasted Almond Crust, and then top it with a mile-high layer of whipped cream.
- Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie: This Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie includes layers of chocolate pastry cream, vanilla rum custard, bananas, and whipped cream in a buttery vanilla wafer crust. It's incredibly rich, creamy, and indulgent without being overly sweet, and has been a favorite recipe in our family for years and years.
The Classic French Napoleon is a Building Block Recipe
Building block recipes are tried-and-true recipes that I consider foundational to great home baking. They are the kind of recipes I come back to over and over again, sometimes baking them as is, but often using them as a jumping off point to create something new. > Scroll through all Building Block recipes.
If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.
Happy baking!
📖 Recipe
Napoleon Dessert | Mille Feuille Cream Pastry
Layers of flaky French pastry and the most perfect vanilla pastry cream come together in this popular cream pastry, also known as a Mille Feuille.
If you like this recipe, you'll also probably like this Cannoli Filled Napoleon.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Perfect Vanilla Pastry Cream, chilled for at least 3 hours and up to 24 hours.
- One 17.3 oz (490g) package puff pastry sheets
- about ¼ cup (29g) powdered sugar - for sprinkling
Instructions
Prepare the puff pastry:
- Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204.4 degrees C) and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Unfold both sheets of pastry and divide each into thirds by cutting along the fold lines, giving you 6 rectangles of pastry. Lay the rectangles on the parchment covered baking sheet, spacing them about ¼-inch apart.
- Cover the pastry with another sheet of parchment paper and lay another baking sheet on top. This will prevent the puff pastry from rising too much and give the pastry nice, flaky layers.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the top baking sheet and the top layer of parchment and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. (*Please read the note below abotu preventing your puff pastry from burning.)
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before assembly.
TO ASSEMBLE THE NAPOLEONS:
- Lay one sheet of baked puff pastry on a serving dish and spread about a ½-inch thick layer of pastry cream evenly over the top. Layer another rectangle of pastry over the cream, repeat with another ½-inch thick layer of pastry cream and top with a third pastry rectangle. Press on the top of the Napoleon slightly just to evenly distribute the layers.
- Repeat with the remaining pastry rectangles and pastry cream. Cover the Napoleons with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (*See note below.)
- Dust the tops of each Napoleon with a thick layer of powdered sugar right before serving.
- Slice each Napoleon into 6 slices, using a serrated knife.
Notes
How to prevent burnt puff pastry:
After making this recipe many, many times, I can attest that the long bake time (about 45 minutes) works well in my kitchen every single time. I've also heard from hundreds of readers who have said that the bake times in the recipe work out for them as well.
But, every once in a while, someone will write to tell me that it took them much less time to cook their puff pastry to a rich golden brown.
This issue has perplexed me for years, but I think one reader might have solved the mystery. It has to do with how thawed your puff pastry is. Here's what she said:
"Yesterday I made a batch of pastry in the oven after ‘defrosting’ the puff pastry on the counter for 1 hour from frozen – this then took 50 min to cook to golden brown in the oven at the temp you suggested. Today I had one sheet of puff pastry left that was in the fridge. This took 20 to bake to perfection. So I believe the cooking time is varying for folks so much as it depends on the stage at which the frozen puff pastry has defrosted."
Regardless of whether or not this is the cause of the bake time discrepency, to prevent overcooking, peek under the top baking sheet and check the pastry after 15 minutes of baking. If it's already getting brown, go ahead and remove the top baking sheet and bake for another 5-10 minutes until golden brown. The goal is to end up with puff pastry that is only slightly puffed, golden brown, and flaky.
To make the Napoleons easier to slice:
Place them in the freezer for 30-60 minutes before serving. If the napoleon has been in the refrigerator for several hours, this is not necissary. However, if the napoleon is freshly made, and you want to serve it within the next hour, placing it in the freezer will make it easier to slice.
To slice: Hold on to the sides of each pastry layer with one hand as you slice through the Napoleon gently with your other hand. A serrated knife works best. Use a gentle side to side motion to saw through the puff pastry, allowing the knife to do the work of cutting through the fragile layers of pastry without pressing down too hard.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 385Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 129mgSodium: 209mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 11gProtein: 8g
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Missy says
My filling has a few baby lumps- did I not pull it from the stove soon enough? And the final filling is thick, but not that oomph thick- do you know what I mean? What did I miss? Thanks!
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Missy! The small lumps could be tiny pieces of egg that scrambled. This can happen easily if the pan is too hot while cooking the custard. I've found that they matter very little to the finished flavor of pastry cream. Obviously, the goal is to cook the custard into a perfectly smooth consistency, but if you end up with a few lumps, it's nothing to worry about and will still be delicious. 🙂 To answer your question about the thickness of your pastry cream - is it on the runny side after adding the gelatin and letting it set up in the refrigerator?
Shawn Grigg says
Why can't we just get a recipe without a bunch of blah blah blah blah blah blah?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Oh, why Shawn, you can. See that big old "jump to recipe" button at the top of the post? If you click on it, it will do exactly as it says and take you straight to the recipe. All the blah blah blah blah blah is there for everyone who is curious about how a recipe works and/or who have questions about various aspects of how to make it. Because, you see, recipe developers like myself spend a tremendous amount of time creating and testing recipes just so you can (completely free of charge) bake through a recipe with success.
The blah blah blah is for those bakers who want to go a little bit deeper with a recipe and fully understand it before diving in. It's not for you and - good news! - I've provided a way for you to skip it entirely. You're welcome. xo
Kate says
Thank you. That was rude of the guy, and turns out joke was on him because if he had read, he would know there was a jump button. You can't please everyone.
Rebecca Blackwell says
♥️♥️♥️
Nilha Pearce says
I made this dessert yesterday. It took a lot longer than I thought. I had trouble with the pastry.... I overcooked the first batch and had to toss most of it. You really have to watch it! It took more like 15 minutes...not 40 to bake. The mousse developed chunks and tiny blobs of gelatin even though I dissolved it in warm water as instructed. I was able to remove the larger blobs. With the crispy layers of pastry, the remaining tiny blobs were almost unnoticeable. Despite all the hiccups, the final product was pretty and delicious. I made it for a guest who lost his sense of taste and smell some years ago. It is important to him to have plenty of different textures, temperatures, and beauty for him to actually enjoy any kind of food. Also, if he has eaten something in the past, it helps because he can remember what it tasted like. This recipe certainly fit the bill! He loved the presentation, all the textures and temperatures. Best of all, he had loved Samoa cookies, so he could enjoy the dessert even more! He ate every single bite. Mission accomplished.
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Nilha! I'm so happy to hear that this recipe worked out well for you in the end! As I talk about in the recipe, the differences people experience in bake times for the puff pastry is substantial. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make it turn out the same for everyone! And, I'm so glad you proceeded to make the Napoleon even with lumpy pastry cream. 🙂 So many "problems" like that aren't noticeable in the final product. It's wonderful to hear that your guest was able to enjoy this dessert! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me. I truly appreciate it! xo
Laura says
I used the 2 baking sheets method and after 35 minutes the pastry was too brown. However, since I didn't have enough room on the first baking sheet, I cut each of my remaining 2 strip in half, poked them with a fork and placed them on parchment on the second baking sheet. After 30 minutes they were perfect. I totally cheated on the filling, using leftover creamy vanilla pudding from Paula Dean's banana pudding recipe. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to salvage the browner strips, but I was in heaven devouring those 4 pieces!
Rebecca Blackwell says
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment about what worked for you, Laura! I wonder if you could use the brown strips as a crumble topping over pudding or ice cream?
Laura says
I peeled off the brown layer and I am having deconstructed Napoleons in a bowl... Not quite as messy!
Rebecca Blackwell says
Perfect!
BRIAN MIERAS says
MY PASTRRY PUFFS RAISED TOO BIG. I PUT THE PARCHMENT OVER THEM AND COOCKED THEM AS YOUR RECIPE, WHY DID THEY DO THAT AND HOW DO I CORRECT IT?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Brian! Did you also set another baking sheet on top of them? The weight of the baking sheet should hold them down so they can't puff up as much as the would otherwise. Regardless, you can go ahead and proceed with the recipe. Just spread pastry cream on the bottom layer of puff pastry, set another piece of puff pastry over the pastry cream and press down gently. The puff pastry layers will break, but the pastry cream should hold them together. Slicing and serving your Napoleon might be a bit messy, but it will still taste just as delicious!
I hope that helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions! xo
Brian Mieras says
Ok thank you for responding. I didn't have a second baking sheet so I just used a sheet of parchment paper. It didn't work too well. Lol
Lucy says
Hi... I have yet to try this .. looks awesome!
Could it be the Puff Pastry browns due not only upon the thickness of Baking Sheet but also because some are BROWN or coated...??
I think the silver ones probably would brown them off more - but don't quote me on that...or it might have the opposite effect... it's just like when you put cookies on the Sheets with lard... the burn more I find.. perhaps some Parchment over the Puffs would help?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Great insight, Lucy! This could be the problem for some people... I'm not sure. But, it's definitely something to pay attention to! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. The goal is to find what works for you - with your baking sheets, your brand of puff pastry, your oven. The more comments and suggestions that people like you take the time to write, the more equipped we all are to get it right. 🙂 xo
Barb says
Can I make this recipe and not add the whipped cream to the pastry cream?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Barb! Yes - absolutely. The whipped cream just lightens the pastry cream a bit, but it's not essential. You can also lighten the pastry cream slightly after chilling it by beating it with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xo
Hema says
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope they like it as much as we do!
Rebecca Blackwell says
I'm so happy to hear that you liked this recipe Hema! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. I truly appreciate it! xo
Bernie says
Thank you Rebecca for taking the time to reply to my question.
I am looking forward to making it.
I will let you know the results.
Have a good day.
From Australia
Bernie says
Hi Rebecca
I am not keen on the smell or tastes of eggs in cakes or slices.
I noticed that you use 6 eggs yolks
in your pastry cream, can you tell me if it tastes eggy?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi there! Great question - I don't think the pastry cream tastes eggy at all. The egg yolks make the pastry cream creamy and rich, but I don't think you'll be able to actually pick out the taste or smell of eggs. If you make this, will you let me know what you think? xo
Jill says
Great recipe! I made an extra layer of pastry and added rasberry jam in the middle layer instead of the cream. Absolutely to die for!
Rebecca Blackwell says
I am so happy to hear that you like this recipe Jill! It's truly one of my favorite desserts of all time. The addition of raspberry jam sounds fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me. I truly appreciate it! xo
Matt says
Great recipe overall! The pastry cream came out excellent. The only change I'd suggest would be to bake the puff pastry sheets in 8-10 min increments at a time, covering with a second baking sheet only after the second 8-10 minute period, after which they were lightly golden brown and appeared done. I originally baked for 35 mins covered by a second baking sheet the whole time and they ended up pretty burnt.
Thanks for this great recipe!
George says
Please do not confuse frozen puff pastry dough with phyllo dough. The two are not interchangeable in this recipe. Always select all-butter puff pastry for the best flavor and texture.
Elise Jankelow says
Followed instructions according to your recipe. Pastry was hard to slice through even after freezing and not very "puffy". I only made 1 Napoleon as this was a trial for me. It disappeared!!
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Elise! Slicing a Napoleon can be a messy business, that's for sure. And, the layers of the puff pastry are meant to be somewhat flat, which is why most of the baking is done with a baking sheet weighting it down. If the puff pastry gets too puffy the whole thing becomes impossible to stack. Anyway, I am so happy to hear that everyone seemed to enjoy eating it! I've made this many, many times and everyone I serve it to gobbles it up. 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment for me! xo
Rachel says
For this reason I always make individual napoleons only. I buy puff pastry squares and cut them in half at angle for triangle shape or down the center. Make’s beautiful uniform individual napoleons
Nikita Rao says
Rebecca, wonderful recipe. The pastry cream is fantastic! Re the mystery of such varied baking times for the puff pastry, I thought this may help:-
Yesterday I made a batch of pastry in the oven after 'defrosting' the puff pastry on the counter for 1 hour from frozen - this then took 50 min to cook to golden brown in the oven at the temp you suggested. Today I had one sheet of puff pastry left that was in the fridge. This took 20 to bake to perfection. So I believe the cooking time is varying for folks so much as it depends on the stage at which the frozen puff pastry has defrosted.
Just my two pence worth:)
Rebecca Blackwell says
Nikita! Thank you so much for this! That makes complete sense! I am going to add your thoughts to the recipe so other bakers will see it because hopefully the mystery is solved! Also, so happy you like the pastry cream. It's my all-time favorite, use-it-for-everything recipe. 🙂 xo
Steven Otero says
Do you know a Napoleon with Cannoli filling ?
Rebecca Blackwell says
I've never seen a recipe for a Napoleon with Cannoli filling, Steven, but it sounds like such a delicious idea that I just might have to create one. I'll get back to you on this... xo
Rebecca Blackwell says
I couldn't get this idea out of my head, and here is the result: https://ofbatteranddough.com/cannoli-napoleon/
Laura Dona says
Amazing! A little messy slicing it up, but those little broken pieces are the “cooks treats”. I might shorten the cooking time on the puff pastry by about 5 minutes, but otherwise it was perfect. AND the pastry cream is absolutely amazing!!!
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Laura! First of all, I like how you think by calling all those little pieces "cooks treats". 🙂 And, I'm so happy to hear that this turned out well for you! The pastry cream is seriously one of my favorite things in the whole world. It is such a struggle for me to save some for the Napoleon. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know how this came out for you! xo
Bird says
Wow! There are not enough stars for this treat! This is possibly the best thing I’ve ever made. My friends told me it was better than the French bakery down the street! It is so so delicious. I made my own puff, which turned out much better than I anticipated and feel like such an accomplished baker- and it was all that hard! The pastry cream really makes it! I can’t wait to find other things to do with this pastry cream! I could have eaten it just on its own!! Thanks so much for sharing your baking so we all can have little triumphs of our own baking!
Rebecca Blackwell says
I am sooooo impressed that you made your puff pastry from scratch! I wish I would have been there to try it! I feel exactly the same way about the pastry cream. Every time I make it, it's a struggle to not just eat it all before it ends up in whatever I plan to put it in. Ok. True confessions. Every time I make it, I make extra just so I can eat some. 🙂
A couple of other ideas for other desserts that use pastry cream: Apple Butter and Pastry Cream Hand Pies, Olive Oil Cake with Mascarpone Cream, and Strawberries and Cream Pie.
Thank you so much for leaving this comment and for sharing your baking with me! xo
Missie Woody says
The cream for this is absolutely DELICIOUS!! I was not impressed with the puff pastry. I watched it carefully and followed the instructions, but still ended up with slightly overcooked pastry. I still need a lot more practice with presentation, but I took it to my baby shower and it was completely devoured!
Rebecca Blackwell says
I am so glad the Napoleon was eaten and enjoyed! You know, one of these days I am going to solve the mystery of why puff pastry cooks faster for some people than others. As I mentioned in the recipe, I've received many notes over the years from people who've had trouble with their puff pastry overcooking. But, then there are plenty of others, myself included, for whom the long cooking time results in perfectly golden, crispy layers. There's got to be a reason for the difference, I just can't for the life of me understand what it might be. Anyway - I could make myself sick on the pastry cream I love it so much. So glad you did too! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this comment! xo
Angie says
It could be the difference between electrical and gas range ovens?! Just saying 🙂
Susan Merigold says
Hi,
I had a thought about the cook times, could the cookie sheets be part of the problem? Cookie sheets are make out of different materials. I have some very thin ones and some very heavy duty ones... maybe they conduct the heat differently, thus causing cooking time differences. Just a thought.
Susan
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Susan! That could very well be part of the issue. Although, I would think if that were the case that the puff pasty would burn on the bottom only. But, who knows? Maybe I'll try to get my hands on a couple different types of baking sheets and do a little experiment. It's worth testing, I think. Thanks so much for your input! xo
Sophie says
This looks super good!
Rebecca Blackwell says
It's one of my favorite recipes on this blog. I hope you make it! If you do, let me know what you think! xo
Rita says
I haven't had napolean dessert, but after reading this will order. If i am rave enough will make it at home. Thank you.
Lucu says
Hi. I was wandering how far ahead of time can I make this dessert without it getting soggy? Thanks
Lucu
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi Lucu! You can make the Napoleon up to 24 hours in advance and the puff pastry should still retain a lot of it's crispness. Although, to tell you the truth, we've eaten leftover Napoleon 3 days after I made it and, while the puff pastry is a bit soft, it's still delicious! After you make this, let me know how it turned out for you! xoxo
For Grid Momma D says
I did what you auggested with the Puff Pastry. After 30 minutes of baking, they were way too brown. After reading on the box that they only bake for 15 minutes, I questioned the 40 minutes. But the first time I make any recipe, I always follow every detail.
Is this possibly a typo?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Hi there! I've been thinking about this a LOT, because I've made this recipe dozens of times and the cooking times in this recipe are based on what works for me. But, you're the second person to tell me that baking the puff pastry for 40 minutes resulted in it being overcooked, and I absolutely hate it when anyone who tries any of my recipes doesn't end up with a totally stellar result. So, I would love to trouble shoot this with you, if you're game?
The package directions assume that you will be baking the puff pastry uncovered. As such, a 15 minute baking time recommended on the box would assure lightly golden layers. Covering the puff pastry with another baking sheet not only prevents it from rising too much; it also prevents it from browning until each layer is crispy. So, just to ask, did you cover the puff pastry with another baking sheet?
Rebecca Blackwell says
Thanks for responding Morgan! I appreciate it! I'm just as baffled as you. I literally have an assembled Napoleon in my refrigerator right now for which the puff pastry sheets were baked for 40 minutes. A couple of weeks ago I got a brand new oven and the puff pastry takes the same amount of time in the new one as it did in the old. So, I can't even blame my old oven! 🙂
Your comment about turnovers also has me thinking... I recently published a recipe for Cherry Turnovers that calls for thawed puff pastry dough and a bake time of 25-30 minutes. Again, this is what's worked for me several times in a row, but it's significantly more time than your turnover bake time. I'm wondering if it might have something to do with altitude. I'm in Colorado, at 5,200 ft above sea level. I know baking times can be affected by altitude - although not usually so dramatically as this. But, do you mind my asking if you are closer to sea level?
Regardless, I really do appreciate you're letting me know how long your pastry took to bake. Messages like that are the only way I have to know what issues other people might be having and edit posts and recipes to alert those baking something for the first time. I think, in addition to the timing note in the recipe itself, I'm going to add a note about this issue in the post itself. Thanks again and enjoy your Napoleon! xo
Rebecca Blackwell says
Thanks for the additional info, Morgan! I appreciate your assistance in getting this figured out. Hope the Napoleon was delicious!