Chocolate Strawberry Puff Pastry Cake
Sweet, creamy, flaky, light, and refreshing – this stacked puff pastry cake is the perfect dessert to follow a hearty meal. Freshly-baked cinnamon sugar puff pastry sticks, fluffy vanilla cream, creamy chocolate mousse, fresh strawberries, and sliced almonds all get layered and rolled up into a seriously impressive cake. It's a delicious dream of a dessert from the first bite to the last!
Ingredients
- 1 frozen sheet of puff pastry
- melted butter
- cinnamon sugar
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cup whipped cream
- 1 2/3 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 stick butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
- strawberry slices
- sliced almonds
- fresh mint
Instructions
- Cut the puff pastry sheet into 9 equal strips, brush melted butter over the strips, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Arrange the puff pastry strips on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, transfer the baking tray to a preheated oven, and cook at 350°F for 20 minutes until the strips are golden brown. Let the baked puff pastry strips cool for 1 hour.
- For the vanilla cream, add the sugar, corn starch, salt, vanilla bean, and milk to a saucepan over low heat, mix well, and bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the egg yolk, and refrigerate the cream for 1 hour. After 1 hour, fold the whipped cream into the cold mixture. Carefully cut the baked puff pastry strips in half lengthwise, pipe the vanilla cream onto the bottom halves, and place the top halves back on top.
- For the chocolate mousse, add the heavy cream, chocolate chips, butter, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat and mix well. Once a smooth mixture has formed, refrigerate for 2 hours. After 2 hours, whip the chocolate mousse with a hand mixer until fluffy. Arrange 4 of the vanilla cream-filled puff pastry sticks on a piece of parchment paper, making sure to leave some space between each puff pastry stick. Spread a layer of the chocolate mousse over the top of the rectangle formed by the puff pastry sticks and top with a layer of strawberry slices.
- Continue layering as follows: chocolate mousse, 3 vanilla cream-puff pastry sticks, chocolate mousse, strawberry slices, chocolate mousse, 2 vanilla cream-puff pastry sticks. Spread the remaining chocolate mousse over the top and sides of the puff pastry cake until it's completely covered, smooth out the chocolate mousse, and refrigerate the cake for at least 6 hours.
- After the cake has chilled, carefully remove it from the parchment paper and place it on a serving plate. Decorate the chocolate strawberry puff pastry cake with strawberry slices, sliced almonds, and fresh mint before serving.
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Notes
This gorgeous, refreshing cake is a simple sweet treat that's perfect for any time of the year. Strawberries always go well with vanilla cream, and the added flavor of the cinnamon sugar puff pastry sticks and rich, airy chocolate mousse makes this dessert both dynamic and memorable!