Need inspiration for an Easter dessert? Chocolate Strawberry Millefeuille. Buy Dufour all-butter puff pastry at Kitchen Conservatory and bake until crispy. Cut into squares. Sandwich the pastry with chocolate pastry cream and fresh strawberries and garnish with whipped cream and caramel sauce. Make the sauces ahead of time and assemble at dessert time.

Millefeuille, which means both puff pastry and napoleon, translates as “thousand leaves.” The pastry is made of many layers of butter and dough, which shatter into thousands of flaky shards when bitten into. Yum! Unfortunately, the puff pastry available at supermarkets is made with vegetable oil. Since the purpose of puff pastry is the delicious taste of butter, make your own or use Dufour.

Chocolate Strawberry Millefeuille

for the pastry:

• 1 sheet of Dufour all-butter puff pastry
• egg wash: 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Unfold the pastry and roll out slightly, so that the dough is smooth. Place on a lined sheet pan. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Prick the dough all over with a pastry dough docker, so that it will not puff up in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares or triangles.

for the chocolate pastry cream:

• 2 cups milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I prefer Valrhona)

Heat the cream in a nonreactive saucepan.  Whisk together the yolks, salt and sugar until the mixture is pale and thick. Fold in cornstarch. Temper the yolk mixture by whisking in some of the hot cream, then pour the yolks into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the cream gets very thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and chocolate, which will melt in the hot cream. Chill thoroughly.

for the caramel sauce:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saute pan, combine the sugar and water on high heat. Cook — without stirring — until golden brown and caramelized. Turn the heat off. Slowly add the heavy cream (the mixture will bubble up), then cook the caramel until smooth. Place the caramel sauce in a squeeze bottle for easy dispensing.