RED VELVET NAPOLEONS WITH RASPBERRIES

Red Velvet Napoleons with Raspberries image

Provided by Lorraine Pascale

Categories dessert

Time 50m

Yield 6 napoleons

Number Of Ingredients 10

One 17.3-ounce box frozen puff pastry sheets (2 sheets), thawed
Superfine sugar, for dusting
2 ounces white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped, or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Red gel food coloring
1 cup raspberries (about 18)
Small edible flowers, for garnish, optional

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Unfold the puff pastry and place 1 sheet on each of 2 baking sheets. Top each with another sheet of parchment weighed down with a baking sheet topped with a ceramic baking dish. Bake until the pastry is crisp and golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and switch the oven to broil. Carefully cut each puff pastry sheet with a serrated knife into 9 rectangles, each about 2-by-5 inches; dust the tops with superfine sugar. Bake the pastry, uncovered, until crisp and caramelized, watching carefully and rotating the baking sheets--this is quick, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Alternatively, you can use a kitchen torch. Remove from the oven and let cool on wire racks. Transfer the cooled pastry to a cutting board.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the melted chocolate, butter, cream cheese, the 4 cups confectioners' sugar and the vanilla until light and fluffy. Color as desired with the food coloring then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe round little blobs onto 6 of the pastry rectangles, covering the surface. Top with 6 more of the rectangles and repeat the piping. Top with the remaining 6 rectangles. Set a metal offset spatula over the center crosswise of each napoleon and dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Garnish each with 2 to 3 raspberries and a small edible flower.