Vanilla Slice

This is a very simple and easy to make recipe and the slight bitterness of the puff pastry perfectly balances the sweetness of the pastry cream.

Start by making the pastry cream first and while that is cooling, you can bake the puff pastry. When they are both cooled you can assemble the slice.

To make the pastry cream, you will need:

• 500 ml Full Cream Milk
• 130g Caster Sugar
• 6 Egg Yolks
• 40 g Plain Flour
• 30g Corn flour
• 1 Vanilla Bean or 1 tbs Vanilla Paste

1. In a medium sized sauce pan, gently warm the milk but don’t let it boil. About 60-70C.
2. If you are using a vanilla bean, cut the pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds, and add the seed and pod into the milk while it is warming up. If you are using vanilla paste, add it into the milk and stir to combine.
3. While the milk is warming up, cream together the egg yolks and sugar until pale. You can do this by hand or use an electric mixer with the whisk attachment.
4. Sift the plain flour into the egg/sugar mixture and whisk to fully combine.
5. Sift in the corn flour and whisk to fully combine.
6. Add a little bit of the warm milk to the egg mixture and whisk to incorporate.
7. Add in the remainder of the milk and whisk to fully incorporate.
8. Using a strainer, strain the milk mixture back into the saucepan, but make sure you get all the vanilla seeds back into the saucepan.
9. Keep whisking on a medium heat until it thickens, this will take about 5 minutes. Be sure you keep whisking thoroughly otherwise the mixture will go lumpy.
10. Once it starts to thicken, keep cooking it for another 2 minutes. The pastry cream will have a very thick consistency so that it will hold in between the puff pastry sheets.
11. Transfer the cooked pastry cream into a clean bowl and cover with cling wrap, making sure the cling wrap touches the cream to stop a skin from forming.
12. Refrigerate for 2 hours to cool completely.

To make the pastry, you will need:

• 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry (I use Pampas Puff Pastry)
• 2 tbs Caster Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 200C fan.
2. Allow the frozen puff pastry to thaw slightly.
3. Once thawed, using a fork, dock the entire pastry sheet to help stop it from puffing.
4. Remove the plastic backing sheet and transfer the puff pastry to a flat oven tray.
5. Evenly sprinkle 1 tbs of sugar over each piece of pastry.
6. Place an inverted wire rack over the pastry, making sure it is touching. Place a baking tin on top of it filled with water or pastry weights. This will make sure the pastry doesn’t puff.
7. Bake the pastry for 10 minutes, and carefully remove the baking tin with water.
8. Continue baking for another 5-8 minutes until the sheet is evenly browned.
9. Once it is evenly browned, take the pastry out of the oven and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.
10. You may need to bake the puff sheets one at a time depending on the size of your oven and equipment you have.

To assemble the vanilla slice:

1. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut each puff sheet into 6 pieces.
2. Spoon a generous amount of the pastry cream onto a piece of pastry.
3. Place another piece of pastry on top and press down gently.
4. Using a butter knife or baking spatula, carefully smooth our the edges of the pastry cream. You may need to add a little more cream using the knife or spatula to create a smooth finish on the edges.
5. Repeat for all 6 pieces.
6. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve immediately.