this is not your typical strawberry napolean

well, our weekly dinner with janel was last night and it was my turn to make dessert. i had intended to make a lemon blueberry tart, but decided against it because i had no interest in buying a fluted tart pan. i mean really, i might use that thing once a year.

soooooo, i made my own version of strawberry napolean AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

here's the recipe!

ingredients:

-1/2 of a 17.3 oz package Puff Pastry Sheet

-1 package instant pudding/pie filling...i used lemon and it was nothing short of a miracle in my mouth. however, you can use whatever flavor your little heart desires!

-1 cup milk

-1 cup heavy whipping cream OR 2 cups thawed whipped topping

-1/2 cup confectioners sugar

-2 tsp heavy whipping cream OR milk

-1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

-1 cup blueberries

thaw pastry sheet at room temp. for 40 minutes or until easy to handle. heat oven to 400 degrees. lightly grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

prepare the pudding mix with 1 cup cold milk in a large bowl.

if you opted to use used heavy cream, whip and then add to pudding. if you used whipped topping, fold into pudding. cover and refrigerate.

to make icing, mix 2 tsp milk or heavy cream with 1/2 cup confectioners sugar. cover and refrigerate.

unfold pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. cut into 3 strips along fold marks. place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden. remove from sheet and cool on wire rack.

once pastry has cooled, split each section into 2 layers, forming a total of 6 layers.

spread 3/4 cup pudding mixture on 1 pastry layer. top with about 1/3 cup strawberries and sprinkle with blueberries. repeat layers. drizzle top with confectioners sugar, icing and melted chocolate if desired. serve immediately or refrigerate up to 4 hours.

it will look like this prior to slicing....sort of like a big puff pastry submarine sandwich. i excercised a level of restraint yesterday that i'm pretty sure qualifies me for sainthood. oh like you don't want to take a huge bite out of that!

and then of course after slicing.....