Vanilla Millefeuille Galette Inspired by Christophe Felder

Just because I haven’t published any new galette recipes this year doesn’t mean I haven’t eaten any. I obviously made the traditional almond version and a few favourite recipes (already on the blog) such as the hazelnut and lemon galette or the 100% hazelnut one.

And then, there’s this galette. What am I saying… this millefeuille! Yes, because it’s not really a galette (a message to the traditionalists out there: no need to tell me off, I KNOW it’s not a galette). This vanilla millefeuille galette is entirely inspired by chef Christophe Felder’s recipe, published in his book Galettes. I’d had my eye on it for years!

Even though it strays from the sacrosanct almond frangipane galette, it can be a lovely alternative for those who don’t like galette (and yes, such people exist!). I hated it myself when I was younger, and I rediscovered galette by making it myself a few years ago (ah, homemade really does change everything!). In any case, as a child, I would probably have loved to have a slightly different version like this one, so that I could share a lovely moment at Epiphany.

The chef’s galette is originally made up of an almond pastry cream as well as a vanilla diplomat cream, to stay close to the flavours of a galette. Personally, I’m an absolute vanilla fan (and a diplomat cream fan on top of that), so I treated myself to a millefeuille galette filled 100% with a beautifully vanilla-rich diplomat cream (because yes, I even added a 2nd vanilla pod for an even more pronounced flavour.) <3

What is the difference between classic puff pastry and inverse puff pastry?

To make an inverse puff pastry, the détrempe (which is a mixture of flour and water, and possibly melted butter and salt) is placed and enclosed inside the beurre manié (unlike classic puff pastry, where the butter is enclosed inside the détrempe). For the folding, you’ll need to do 2 double turns and one single turn for inverse puff pastry, whereas, classically, you give 6 single turns for classic puff pastry.

Inverse puff pastry gives an incomparable texture, both flaky and light, crisp and melt-in-the-mouth, a real delight. Visually, the result is also very attractive, with well-defined layers.

How do you make a successful puff pastry?

To begin with, you need to work with good ingredients. Ideally, you use dry butter (beurre de tourage), which is drier than classic butter and contains more fat and less water (84% fat compared with 82% for classic butter). It is therefore easier to handle and to roll out. It’s ideal for making laminated doughs (puff pastry, laminated yeast dough…). You can find it at Métro or online (at Cook Shop for example) but failing that, you can also use a good-quality butter bought at the supermarket, such as AOP Charentes-Poitou or Isigny butter.

As for the flour, here we use a mixture of T45 flour and T55 flour.

• T45 flour is a “strong” flour that is generally used for all preparations that need an elastic dough or a yeasted dough. It’s the most common one, and it can be used for all kinds of preparations (choux pastry, bread, pizza, brioche, crêpes, viennoiseries, cakes such as financiers…)
• T55 flour is what’s known as a “weak” flour, used when you want to obtain doughs that aren’t very elastic, in particular for tart doughs (pâte brisée, pâte sablée, pâte sucrée…). These doughs are less likely to shrink during baking.

To get your pastry right, you need to be careful during the folding and absolutely respect the resting times between turns (minimum 1h, ideally 2h). I know, it’s long, it’s a pain even… but that’s what will guarantee the success of your puff pastry and its rise during baking. Organise yourself over 2 days to prepare it! Another important detail: the beurre manié and the détrempe must have the same texture. That’s why you need to take the beurre manié out of the fridge before the détrempe.

For more tips on puff pastry and on making the galette, I’ll refer you to Christophe Felder’s inverse puff pastry recipe.