Berry Napoleon

This was Jed's last dessert.  (Sorry!  Elder Clawson.) The last thing I would fix him for the next 2 years!  He'll be serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  He's headed to Albania, and Kosovo, and Macedonia, and Montenegro!  I didn't even know where those countries were 5 months ago.  And I swear there was a war there just a few years ago.  1999 isn't just a few, but it seems like yesterday.  And do you remember the bad guys on the movie Taken?  Yup!  They were from Albania.  My outlook on these countries has changed lately.  Jed is going to LOVE serving there! (Shameless plug to check out his mission blog!  It's on the right hand side.  Just right over there:)

 A Napoleon is so stinking easy to make, and it always impresses the folks you serve it to.  You can make it all fancy, by making a homemade pudding if you'd like.  I just used Jello Cook and Serve Vanilla pudding.  I may have substituted a little cream in for the milk, but who cares.  My son just left for Albania for 2 years!  He deserves a little something special:)

I followed the recipe off the back of the Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry Dough.  Turned out perfect, and it took no time at all.  You could use any type of berry, or fresh peaches in a month or two, and even frozen berries would work.  In about a month I'm expecting my blackberry patch to EXPLODE with berries, and this Napoleon will take on a blackberry variety.  Enjoy making this.  I know we licked up every last crumb.

Berry Napoleon

recipe courtesy of Pepperidge Farms 

All-purpose flour

1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)

1 pkg. (about 3 1/2 ounces) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream, whipped or 2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tsp. milk

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen sliced strawberries

Heat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.

Sprinkle the work surface with the flour. Unfold the pastry sheet onto the floured surface. Cut the pastry sheet into 3 strips along the fold marks. (I actually cut the dough into 9 squares.  A little more personal.)  Place the pastry strips onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.  Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Split the pastries into 2 layers, making 6 layers in all.

Prepare the pudding mix according to the package directions with 1 cup milk in a large bowl. Fold in the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes. To make icing, stir the confectioners’ sugar and 2 teaspoons milk in a small bowl.

Spread the icing on 2 top pastry layers. Spread 3/4 cup pudding mixture on 4 pastry layers. Top each with about 1/3 cup strawberries. Stack 1 strawberry-topped layer onto a second one to make 2 stacks. Top each stack with an iced pastry layer. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours.

Helper: For easier slicing, refrigerate the Napoleons for a least 1 hour and use a wet serrated knife.

Serving Suggestion: The pastries may be drizzled with 1 square (1 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate, melted, before serving.

Recipe Note: Parchment paper keeps the pastry from sticking to the baking sheet and also makes for easier cleanup. If you don't have parchment paper, you can spray the baking sheet with cooking spray instead. However, cooking spray may cause the bottoms of the pastries to brown more quickly, so begin checking for doneness 5 minutes early.