Brazen

Last night my friend, Jamie, had a fundraiser for a program she heads up. Its called Kukua Pamoja - Programs for Social Change and is a program based both in Canada and Kenya. It creates safe spaces for men and women to learn about empowerment, sexual health, and social change. Jamie organized a martini and dessert party to raise money. I contributed a lovely dessert. They raised over $700! Yay Jamie!
I made a fresh plum Napoleon. It was layers of puff pastry, vanilla pastry cream and plum jam. It is based on this recipe from Epicurious.com, with my own changes.

Plum Napoleon

Plum Jam

1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
12 oz. italian prune plums, halved, pitted and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 inch wide strip of orange zest

Combine sugar and water in saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves and syrup begins to thicken. Add plums and zest, reduce heat and cook until mixture is very thick and has reduced to about 3/4 c. Remove orange zest and cool completely.

Vanilla Pastry Cream
2c. whole milk
5 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
6 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring milk up to a boil then remove from heat.
Whisk yolks, sugar and flour together. Gradually whisk in hot milk. Return to saucepan and cook over medium heat until cream thickens and boils, whisking constantly, about 5 min. Whisk in butter then vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and press plastic wrap right onto the surface of the pastry cream. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

1 pkg. frozen puff pastry, about 350 g

Roll pastry into a rectangle about 18"x12" and place on ungreased cookie sheet of the same size. (My sheet pan was a little smaller - it turned out fine) Pierce the pastry all over with a fork and bake at 375 F for 25 min. or until golden brown. Cool completely on the sheet pan.

6 plums, halved, pitted and cut into 1/4" slices

Carefully remove puff pastry from sheet pan. Using a serrated knife, cut crosswise into thirds, trimming edges if necessary to make it square. Place one third of the pastry onto serving plate. Cover with a generous cup of pastry cream. Top with a second piece of puff pastry. Spread with 1/3 c. of plum jam, then arrange sliced plums over jam. Spread underside of the third piece of puff pastry with another 1/3 c. jam and place jam side down on top of the plums. Dust top with powdered sugar and decorate as desired.

Enjoy!
I had dinner guests last night so I doubled this recipe quite successfully. I have an entire pint of jam left over. Can you say Toast Time?! It was a delicious dessert. Perfectly sweet and slightly tart. Give it a try. Plums are in season right now and are everywhere.
Have a beautiful weekend! x