Desserts

• Roast 320 g of hazelnuts at 360 °F for 15 minutes. Let the nuts cool to room temperature. Remove the skins by rubbing the cooled down nuts in your hands until most of the skins have come off. Remove as much of the skins as possible off of the hazelnuts.
• Place 100 g of roasted hazelnuts aside for later.
• Place the other 220 g of hazelnuts into a food processor.
• Add 1 tbsp of granulated sugar.
• Blend the hazelnuts on low, and then on high until the hazelnuts are a fine texture. They only need about 10-25 seconds of blending in total. You don't want to overdo it and make a paste.
• Set aside the blended hazelnuts for later.
• Using a hand mixer, beat the 8 egg whites, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt on high until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
• Using a spatula, gently fold in the blended hazelnuts and 1 2/3 cups icing sugar into the egg whites. Do not overmix. You want the egg whites to maintain the air you just beat into the egg whites.
  
• Chop the 100 g of roasted hazelnuts that you set aside.
• Line a 12 x 16" pan with parchment paper.
• Place the egg white mixture into the pan and spread evenly using a spatula. The mixture will not even out in the oven, so it's best to even it out as best you can before putting it in the oven.
  
• Place the chopped hazelnuts evenly around the hazelnut dacquoise.
• Bake the hazelnut dacquoise for 20-22 minutes at 340 degrees F until the egg whites are a light brown color.
• Let the dacquoise cool, then lift it out grabbing with the parchment paper at either end.
  
• You can cut the dacquoise to fit your cake bottom. You can also freeze the rest of it if you don't use all of it with your recipe. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.

• Using a stand mixer, cream butter until fluffy.
• Add sugar and cream together.
• Add vanilla extract and cream together on low.
• Slowly add rice flour and all purpose flour to the butter mixture. Mix together until almost fully combined. Remove dough from stand mixer and turn onto the countertop.
• Form the dough into a ball as best as you can. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough out, be patient as this takes a bit of time. Roll the dough until it's 1/4" in thickness.
• Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into shapes.
• Place the shortbread cookies on a baking pan (ungreased). Prick the cookies with a fork. Bake shortbread cookies for 15-18 minutes at 300 degrees F. When the cookies are finished, they should be light, white colored. If the edges have begun to turn brown, they are overbaked.
• Cool on the baking pan for 5 minutes, then gently place them on a cooling rack.
• Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.

• Cream the softened 1/4 cup of butter with 3 tbsp of brown sugar and 2 tbsp of granulated sugar using a stand mixer.
• Add in 1 tbsp milk and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix together.
• Add 1/3 cup of flour and a pinch of salt and mix on low speed until combined.
• Add 1/3 cup of chopped chocolate chips and mix together to create your edible cookie dough for ice cream.

• Freeze your ice cream bowl for 24 hours.
• In a large bowl, combine milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Set up your ice cream maker. Place your frozen ice cream bowl in the ice cream maker. Turn on the ice cream maker.
• Pour the ice cream mixture into the churning frozen bowl.
• Let the ice cream churn for 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, cut your cookies into quarters. Take a large mallet and crush the cookies into smaller pieces.
  
• Add the crushed cookies after the ice cream has churned for 20 minutes. Churn for another 5 minutes to let the cookies completely combine into the ice cream.
  
• When the cookies and cream ice cream has finished churning, place it in an airtight container in the freezer for 3 hours prior to serving. You can still serve it right away after churning, the ice cream will be more like soft serve coming right out of the ice cream maker.
  

Puff Pastry – Day 1

• Measure flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs.
• Pour water into a well in the center of the flour.
• Mix and knead for a few minutes until the dough becomes smooth.
• Wrap the dough in cling wrap. Chill dough for 30 min.
• Mix room temperature butter and flour together. Shape into a 9" square by beating it with a rolling pin in between 2 cling wrap pieces on a cutting board.
• Roll the dough out to a 12" square. Place butter in a diamond shape on the dough.
• Close the dough around the butter like an envelope and seal the edges so the butter is fully enclosed.
• Use flour as needed to roll the dough into a rectangle shape until its ~ 1/4" in thickness. Fold the dough like a letter. Fold one side over the center. Then fold other other side over the center creating 3 layers of even size.
• Roll out the dough into a rectangle again and repeat the letter folding process. Chill for 30 min.
• Repeat this process until you have completed 6 folds, chilling for 30 min in between every 2 folds.
• Your puff pastry is ready to be used. We only need half of the puff pastry recipe. Cut it in half, and place the other half in the freezer. Your puff pastry will keep in the freezer for 1-2 months. Keep the puff pastry in the fridge until you're ready to bake it.

Vanilla Custard – Day 1

• Place milk in a medium saucepan on low-medium heat.
• Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. Remove the vanilla beans and place them in the milk. Place the whole vanilla bean in the milk as well.
• Let the milk just come to a simmer, not boiling. Turn off the heat source and remove the milk from the heat. Let the vanilla bean infuse flavor for 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, separate your eggs. Place the egg yolks in a large heat proof bowl.
• Add sugar and cornstarch to the egg yolks and mix together with a whisk.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan. Slowly temper the eggs by adding a couple of tablespoons of the milk to the eggs at a time and vigorously whisking it until fully emulsified.
• Continue adding the milk very slowly until fully combined. You do not want to cook the eggs.
• Strain the mixture back into the saucepan by placing a sifter or strainer on top of your saucepan. Pour the mixture through the strainer and into the saucepan. Place the saucepan back on the heat source on medium heat.
• Whisk the mixture frequently. Heat the mixture until the cornstarch has activated. It should be a few minutes. You will feel the mixture becoming thickened with your whisk (~5 minutes).
• Cook for 1 more minute after it has started to thicken.
• Remove the vanilla custard from the heat and add the butter. Whisk the butter until it has fully melted into the custard.
• Let the custard cool until the pot can go in the fridge. Place a plastic wrap on top of the custard to prevent a film from forming.
• Chill the vanilla custard for 2 hours before using, or overnight until you're ready to make your mini mille feuille.

Day 2

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
• Remove your puff pastry from the fridge (remember to only use half of the dough we made) and roll it out. Roll the dough into a long rectangle. It should be as thin as you can possibly make it. It should be ~1/4" in thickness or less.
• Cut the puff pastry on a cutting board into 3 equal portions.
• Using a large baking pan, place parchment paper on the baking pan to line it.
• Place puff pastry on the baking pan (usually only 2 pieces fit on the baking pan).
• Place another layer of parchment paper on top of the puff pastry.
• Put another baking pan on top of the puff pastry. You'll be using this is weigh down the puff pastry in the oven. This is critical, because you want your puff pastry as thin as possible for your dessert.
• Bake the puff pastry for 18- 25 minutes until golden brown in color.
• Place the puff pastry on a wire rack until full cooled.

Royal Icing – Make right before assembling

• In a stand mixer, place egg whites and lemon juice and beat on high for 30 seconds.
• Slowly add icing sugar into the stand mixer and beat on medium speed for 7-10 minutes until royal icing has a sheen or gloss to it. The icing should be thick. Adjust as needed with more icing sugar.

Chocolate – Make right before assembling

• Melt the chocolate and then place into a piping bag fitted with a narrow circle nozzle.

How to assemble Mini Mille Feuille

• Cut the puff pastry into 1.5" squares or a size that you're happy with. Each mini mille feuille will have 3 squares of puff pastry to make 1 dessert.
  
• Use a cupcake liner for each dessert to be assembled in. Place 1 square into the bottom of each cupcake liner.
• Place custard into a piping bag fitted with a medium circle nozzle.
• Pipe custard in circles onto the square of the puff pastry. Typically it looks nice if you pipe 4 circles of custard on the square.
  
• Add another square of puff pastry on top of the custard you just piped.
  
• Place another layer of custard, and then top again with your final square of puff pastry.
• Place the royal icing in a piping bag fitted with a small circle nozzle.
• Pipe royal icing on top of your puff pastry square. The royal icing will be sturdy enough not to fall off the edges of the dessert. Make sure you have clean lines for your icing so it stays intact on top of your dessert.
• Pipe lines of chocolate on top of the royal icing. Pipe at least 3 straight lines on each dessert.
  
• Using a sharp knife perpendicular to your lines that you piped, cut a slit through the chocolate layers gently to create a wave effect. Cut 2-3 slits per dessert.
  
• Store your mini mille feuille in the fridge until you're ready to serve it. Mini mille feuille will stay good for 2-3 days in the fridge, but it is better to serve it the same day you assemble it.
  

• In a large bowl, combine milk, heavy cream, and sugar. Mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Add vanilla extract and 1 tsp of peppermint extract. Taste test the mixture. If you would like a stronger mint flavor, add 0.5 tsp more, taste test again. You can go even further and add another 0.5 tsp of peppermint extract. Usually 1 tsp of peppermint extract is enough to give a hint of flavor, which is what I normally use.
• Add a few drops of food coloring and mix well. Keep adding only a couple of drops of food coloring until you're happy with the green color of your ice cream.
  
• Your ice cream maker bowl needs to be frozen for 24 hours before using it. Once your bowl is chilled, set up your ice cream maker. I use Cuisinart's Ice cream maker which only has 2 plastic parts, one sits in the bowl to mix, and 1 as a lid.
• Turn your ice cream maker on. Pour your ice cream mixture into the frozen bowl. Let it churn for 10 minutes.
• While your ice cream is churning, chop up your chocolate chips. Chocolate chips are a little big for ice cream, so you could use mini chocolate chips instead if you like.
• After 10 minutes of churning, add in your chocolate chips.
  
• Let your ice cream churn for another 10 minutes.
  
• Turn off your ice cream maker. Remove the ice cream from the frozen bowl, into an air tight container. Place it in the freezer for 3 hours prior to serving.
  

• Separate the coconut milk from the coconut water. If you're using brands like Thai Kitchen – they separate very well and you can easily pour the coconut water out of the can. You can use the coconut water for another recipe. We only need the coconut milk. If you're using a brand that isn't easily separated, place the coconut milk in the fridge overnight. Then use a large spoon to gently remove the top portion of creamy coconut milk for your recipe. The coconut water will be on the bottom of the can.
• When you've separated your coconut milk, you can start prepping for your raspberry puree. Place the coconut milk back in the fridge.
• Place frozen raspberries, water, and sugar in a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat until all of the raspberries have melted into the sauce. The sauce will be finished when it starts bubbling (5-7 minutes).
• Remove the sauce from the heat source. Let it cool down to room temperature (1 hour).
• Puree the raspberry sauce in a blender.
• Place a large bowl with a mesh sieve on top of it. Pour the raspberry sauce through the mesh sieve to strain all of the seeds out. You'll have to use a spoon to get all of the sauce through the sieve which will take a few minutes. Push the seeds out of the way to let the sauce drain through.
• When all of the sauce has come through the sieve you are left with raspberry puree. Discard the raspberry seeds.
• Place the chilled coconut milk in a stand mixer and mix on low-medium for 5-7 minutes. The coconut milk will become fluffy and light when it's finished mixing. It should resemble the consistency of pudding.
• Add the raspberry puree to the whipped coconut milk. Use a spatula to gently fold in the raspberry sauce. The mixture will turn a beautiful pink color without any white in it when you are done mixing.
• Serve immediately, or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Vanilla Custard Filling for Eclairs

• Place milk in a medium saucepan on low-medium heat.
• Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise with a sharp knife. Remove the vanilla beans and place them in the milk. Place the whole vanilla bean in the milk.
• Let the milk just come to a simmer, not boiling. Turn off the heat source and remove the milk from the heat. Let the vanilla bean infuse flavor for 15 minutes.
• In the meantime, separate your eggs. Place the egg yolks in a large heat proof bowl.
• Add sugar and cornstarch to the egg yolks and mix together with a whisk.
• Remove the vanilla bean from the saucepan. Slowly temper the eggs by adding a couple of tablespoons of the milk to the eggs at a time and vigorously whisking it until fully emulsified.
• Continue adding the milk very slowly until fully combined. You do not want to cook the eggs.
• Strain the mixture back into the saucepan and heat on medium heat.
• Whisk the mixture frequently. Heat the mixture until the cornstarch has activated. It should be a few minutes. You will feel the mixture becoming thickened with your whisk.
• Cook for 1 more minute after it has started to thicken.
• Remove the vanilla éclair custard from the heat and add the butter. Whisk the butter has fully melted into the custard.
• Let the custard cool until the pot can go in the fridge. Place a plastic wrap on top of the custard to prevent a film from forming.
• Chill the éclair custard for 2 hours before using.

Chocolate Glaze for Eclairs

• Place heavy cream in a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer, just before it starts to boil remove it from the heat source.
• Measure your dark chocolate into a heat proof bowl.
• Pour the boiled cream over the dark chocolate wafers.
• Add butter to the mixture and gently stir with a spatula until all of the chocolate is melted and becomes a smooth mixture.
• Place the mixture into the fridge until it's fully cooled (~1 hour).

Eclair Pastry Dough

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat add butter, milk, water, sugar and salt to the saucepan.
• When the butter is full melted, let it come to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and add the bread flour.
• Mix the bread flour well to let it combine into a ball using a wooden spoon. Keep mixing it for the next 3-4 minutes. The ball should come away from the sides of the saucepan with ease.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the éclair pastry dough to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• Mix the dough in the stand mixer on low speed for 3 minutes.
• Add an egg and mix until fully combined. Add the other 2 eggs the same way until it's fully combined.
• If the dough is wet, soft, and has an even consistent surface, you don't need to add another egg, your dough is finished. If the dough is a bit on the drier side, add another egg.
• Fit a piping bag with a 1/2" round or star tip. Add eclair pastry dough to the piping bag.
• Pipe eclairs onto a silicone baking mat. They should be about 4" long and 3/4" in thickness. Space the eclairs 1.5-2" apart from one another so they have enough room to puff up in the oven.
• Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. The eclairs should be a medium brown color.
• As soon as the eclairs come out of the oven, poke them 2 times each with a toothpick. This lets the steam out of the eclairs so they will maintain their shape and not deflate from the trapped steam inside.
• Cool the eclairs on a wire rack.

How to assemble the chocolate eclairs with custard filling

• Decide how you will fill the eclairs.

  One way is to cut the eclairs in half, and pipe the custard in the center. Sandwich the eclairs together for the finished look.

  Another option is to pipe them by using a large circle metal piping tip and poking 3 holes on the bottom of the eclair. Then press the piping tip into each of the circles and pipe the vanilla eclair custard them. Wipe the excess with a paper towel.
• Dip the top of the eclairs into the chocolate eclair glaze.
• Serve your Chocolate Eclairs with custard filling immediately.

  Store any leftovers in the fridge and serve the same day or the following day.