Lemon Ricotta Puff Pastry (Printable version)
Crisp puff pastry layers with luscious lemon ricotta cream, dusted with powdered sugar. An elegant French-Italian dessert.
# What you need:
→ Puff Pastry
01 - 1 sheet store-bought or homemade puff pastry, approximately 9 oz (250 g)
02 - 1 tbsp granulated sugar, for sprinkling
→ Lemon Ricotta Cream
03 - 9 oz (250 g) whole-milk ricotta cheese
04 - ⅓ cup plus 1½ tbsp (100 ml) heavy whipping cream
05 - 1 medium lemon, zest and juice
06 - ¼ cup plus 2 tbsp (60 g) powdered sugar
07 - 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
→ Garnish
08 - Powdered sugar, for dusting
09 - Fresh lemon zest, for decoration (optional)
# How To:
01 - Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
02 - Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut into 12 equal rectangles. Arrange the rectangles on the prepared tray, sprinkle evenly with granulated sugar, then place a second sheet of parchment paper on top followed by a second baking tray to weigh them down and prevent excessive puffing.
03 - Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the pastry rectangles are crisp and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
04 - In a mixing bowl, whisk the ricotta until completely smooth. Add the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, then mix thoroughly until well combined.
05 - In a separate chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold the whipped cream into the ricotta mixture in two additions, being careful not to deflate it. Refrigerate the cream until ready to assemble.
06 - Spread or pipe a generous layer of lemon ricotta cream onto six of the pastry rectangles. Top each with a second pastry rectangle to form six individual mille feuille.
07 - Dust the top layer of each mille feuille with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh lemon zest. Serve immediately for the best texture contrast.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The contrast between shatteringly crisp pastry and pillowy lemon ricotta cream is the kind of texture magic that makes people close their eyes when they take a bite.
- It looks like it came from a Parisian bakery but the entire thing comes together with store bought puff pastry and about ten minutes of real effort.
02 -
- That second baking tray on top is not optional and skipping it will give you puffy uneven shapes that cannot hold cream without toppling over.
- Wet ricotta is the enemy of elegant pastry so always drain it first and never rush the cooling step or you will have melted filling sliding off warm pastry shards.
03 -
- Use a piping bag with a large round tip for the cream if you want clean even layers that look as good as they taste.
- A sharp serrated knife pressed straight down without sawing is the secret to cutting through the layers cleanly without crushing the whole structure.