PEACH MILLE FEUILLE

MAKES 4

WE LOVED MAXINE SCHECKTER’S peach mille feuille on page 122, so we adapted the recipe for single servings for the cover. To do this, make the brown sugar pastry cream as per the recipe (I used raw caster sugar for a lighter colour). For the roast peaches, use 4 peaches and peel 2 before roasting as per the recipe. The peeled peaches need to be nice and tender so they may need a bit longer in the oven than the unpeeled ones. Once roasted, put the peeled peaches in a food processor with 1 tablespoon of apricot or peach jam and process to a purée (you may need to add a little water depending on your peaches). Save the unpeeled peaches for garnish.

For the pastry, you will need 500g ready-rolled flaky pastry. Depending on which pastry you buy, you may need to cut the roll in two pieces to cook. Heat the oven to 200℃. Lay a sheet of pastry (or two if you have square sheets and they fit) on a lined baking tray. Prick all over with a fork then sprinkle with caster sugar. Lay a piece of baking paper over the pastry, then three sheets of tin foil then finally another baking tray to weight it down. Bake for 15 minutes then uncover and bake for a further 10-12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Check occasionally as it can quickly get very dark. Cool on a wire rack. Bake the remaining pastry.

When cool, use a serrated knife to cut off the edges of the pastry, then cut into 12 even-sized pieces.

To make the mille feuille, place 4 pastry pieces on a board and spread with a little of the peach purée then top with pastry cream, another pastry, more purée and cream then finally the last piece of pastry. Garnish with peaches and flowers and sprinkle with icing sugar.