This Raffaello Mille-Feuille features buttery, homemade puff pastry filled with a coconut white chocolate pastry cream and is adorned with a white chocolate and coconut garnish.
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This mille-feuille was inspired by my love of the coconut white chocolate almond confection, Raffaello. Sadly, this is not sponsored (what a dream). But nonetheless I am happy to sing their praises, because this is my favorite treat to receive no matter the holiday.
I knew there was probably no way I could replicate the thin wafer that gives Raffaello its crunch, so I went with another delicate, yet crispy option: puff pastry. Mille-feuille means ‘thousand sheets’. The folded puff pastry creates these ‘thousand’ layers that give it a flaky, crunchy appeal. Another pastry with layers like this, is my Kouign Amann (Round). If you are looking for another flaky confection, look no further than my Strawberry Mango Homemade Pop-Tarts.
Ingredient
Coconut and white chocolate take center stage in this pastry that requires only a few ingredients.
- egg yolks
- cornstarch
- full-fat coconut milk
- white chocolate
- unsweetened coconut
- puff pastry (homemade or store-bought)
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here’s how to assemble mille-feuille:
Pipe 12 small dollops of cream on top of one of the baked pastry rectangles. Top with another rectangle and another 12 small dollops of cream.
Brush melted white chocolate on the top baked pastry rectangle.
Dip into unsweetened coconut flakes to adhere them to the white chocolate.
Place the garnished piece on top.
Good to know: Puff pastry edges that have not been cut (left folded) will not puff up as nicely in the oven.
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Substitutions and variations
Here’s how to customize these to your liking:
- No coconut milk — replace with whole milk and add coconut extract / essence
- Store-bought puff pastry — instead of making your own, buy some storebought puff pastry to speed up the process
- Add almonds — top with flaked almonds or add some almonds in between the layers
- More garnish — garnish with whole or halved Raffaellos
- Prevent soggy layers — brush melted white chocolate on all of the pastry layers to prevent the cream from making the pastry soggy
Do you have any other variation suggestions? Let me know in the comments!
Equipment
I found a French rolling pin to be helpful for rolling out the puff pastry. The tapered ends make rolling just the edges easy to prevent cracking.
Slicing the puff pastry is easiest using a ruler and a small pastry wheel. Alternatively you can use a sharp knife.
This recipe requires quite a few large baking pans. It is always nice to have more on hand to prep larger batches. But, you could also just use only two baking pans and wait for them to cool in between baking.
Piping bags and a large plain round tip were essential in piping the cream on the pastry. If you do not have these, consider spooning it on and spread it into one even layer.
Storage
Serve immediately once assembled, or store in an airtight container and refrigerate 2-3 days until ready to serve.
Alternatively, keep the baked puff pastry and cream separate until ready to serve. The pastry cream will keep for 2-3 days. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use, with plastic wrap touching the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming.
Top tip
I preferred a silicone pastry mat underneath the pastry, but a layer of parchment on top, below the top pan, for baking. I found this to be the perfect weight to stifle just enough puff in the pastry.
Lastly, if you make this Raffaello Mille-Feuille be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating. I love to see when people make my recipes, so please tag me @youthsweets on Instagram if you post!
📖 Recipe
Raffaello Mille-Feuille
Ingredients
Puff pastry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (230g)
- ¼-⅓ cup water ice cold
Coconut white chocolate pastry cream
- 4 egg yolks (64-68g)
- 25 g cornstarch 3 tbsp
- 400 g full-fat coconut milk (1-14.5 oz can)
- 170 g white chocolate chips or chopped (1 cup)
Garnish
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips or chopped
- ¼ cup unsweetened coconut shredded or desiccated
Instructions
Do Ahead
- The puff pastry dough can be made in advance. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week or 3 months in the freezer when wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Defrost in the refrigerator before using.
- The pastry cream can be made 2-3 days in advance. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use, with plastic wrap touching the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming.
- Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes and freeze for 30 minutes. Measure out your ice water.
Make the puff pastry
- In a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt until mixed.
- Add the cubed, frozen butter and pulse until the butter is dime-sized. Stream in the ice water while the processor is running. Leave running just until the mixture forms a ball. Do not over process.
- Turn out onto a reusable plastic sheet or plastic wrap. Press the dough through the plastic to form the dough into a disk or square. Wrap tightly and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 2-3 days. You can start the pastry cream at this point, if desired.
- Roll out the chilled dough into a 10x20-inch rectangle. Fold into thirds, like a letter (see how). Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat this rolling and folding process twice. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. You could also start the pastry cream at this point, if desired.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Turn over two large sheet pans. Place a piece of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat on the bottoms. Set aside another two sheet pans and pieces of parchment paper to go on top.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 22x10-inch rectangle. Trim a thin bit off of the four edges of the dough*. Cut the dough with a pastry wheel or sharp knife into roughly 22 (2 x 5-inch rectangles).
- Transfer the rectangles to the lined bottoms of the sheet pans, 1 inch apart. Cover with the reserved sheets of parchment and place the reserved pans bottoms down on top of the parchment. Basically you are sandwiching the puff pastry pieces between parchment and two pan bottoms to stunt their growth.
- Place one of the pan sets in the oven and keep the other in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Bake for 15 minutes before removing the top pan and parchment and baking 8-10 minutes more, for a total of 25-27 minutes.
- Transfer baked puff pastry to a wire rack to cool completely. Trim edges with a sharp, serrated knife, if necessary.
Make the pastry cream
- Place the white chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl. Set aside.
- Vigorously whisk together egg yolks and cornstarch until the mixture has lightened in color, about 2 minutes.
- Bring the coconut milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Once it boils, remove from the heat. Wait 3 minutes.
- Slowly dribble ¼ cup of the warm milk into the egg yolk cornstarch mixture while whisking constantly. Continue whisking and dribbling in the rest of the milk slowly until it is all in.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat over medium, whisking constantly, until it boils and thickens. It should be able to coat the back of a spoon.
- Once desired thickness is reached, remove from the heat and pour the mixture over the white chocolate in the heat proof bowl. Stir to melt the chocolate completely. Emulsify the mixture with an immersion blender until the pastry cream is lighter in color, about 3-5 minutes.
- If making ahead, cover with plastic wrap, letting the plastic touch the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until needed. If you are in a hurry, pour the pastry cream on a sheet pan. Spread it thin, and cover completely with plastic wrap, letting it touch all of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until completely cool.
Assemble
- Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip, like a Wilton 1A.
- Group together the puff pastry pieces in sets of three.
- Prepare the garnished top pieces. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 20-30 second increments, taking care not to scorch it. Brush the top piece of pastry of each set with white chocolate and dip it into the coconut.
- On top of one of the plain pieces pipe 12 small dollops of the cream. Gently cover with another plain piece of puff pastry. On top of that plain piece pipe another 12 small dollops of cream. Cover with a white chocolate and coconut garnished piece.
- Repeat until all mille-feuille are assembled. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
