Vanilla mille-feuille

Heat the oven to 200 °C. Divide the pastry into 3 portions and roll between sheets of baking paper into rectangles about 30 × 20 cm. Prick with a fork. Bake on a lined tray in batches for about 20 minutes each until golden and cooked underneath. Cool on racks.

While the pastry bakes, split the vanilla and scrape out the seeds. Bring the milk, pod and seeds to the boil, remove from the heat and infuse for 10 minutes. Separate the eggs and whisk the yolks with the caster sugar, then the flour. Whisk in the strained milk and return to the pan. Stir over gentle heat until thick with the first bubbles. Spread in a shallow dish, cover the surface and cool for about 30 minutes, then chill until fully cold.

Whip the cold cream until firm. Whisk the cold custard until smooth, then gently fold in the whipped cream with a spatula. Chill for at least 60 minutes to firm.

Set a cold pastry rectangle on a plate. Spread with half the cream and cover with another rectangle. Add the remaining cream and the final pastry sheet. Smooth the edges, dust with sifted icing sugar and carefully cut with a serrated knife without crushing the layers.