I love the creaminess of the custard filling in a Napoleon dessert, the flakiness of the pastry layers, and the sweetness of the glazed top, accented with dark chocolate.

Today was a perfect day to make this delicacy for my family.

It was an easy project, thanks to Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry dough, instant pudding mix, my home grown strawberries, and fresh whipped cream.

If you are looking for a quick, delicious, and impressive looking dessert, you will love this recipe (listed on the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry packaging).  I made some minor adjustments to their recipe, to suit better my taste.

Makes 9 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry (use only 1 sheet)
  
• 3 1/2 oz Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix and Pie Filling (1 small package)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup heavy cream for whipping
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp milk
• 1 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate (1 square), melted
• 1 tsp heavy cream
• 2 drops of rum extract

Directions:

1. Take out one Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheet, and thaw at room temperature, until ready to handle (about 40 minutes).
2. Using a pizza cutter, cut into three pieces, lengthwise, along the folds.
3. Cut each long piece across into three equal pieces (single servings).
4. Grease two baking sheets (I use Crisco), and set above cut pieces on there, spacing them slightly.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
6. Bake on the middle oven rack, for 17 minutes.
7. Remove from the pans onto a wire cooking rack , and cool completely.
8. Cut each square horizontally, to make three layers of pastry.
9. Set aside.

Pudding filling:

1. Pour 1 cup of cold milk into a medium size bowl.
2. Pour in the pudding mix.
3. Whip for few minutes, until creamy pudding forms.
4. Set aside.

Whipped Cream:

Use a small bowl,pour in 1 cup of cold heavy (whipping) cream.

Whip until firm peaks form.

Fold into the pudding mixture.

Cover and refrigerate for now.

Sugar Icing:

1. In a small bowl, add 1 cup of powdered sugar.
2. Add 2 tsp of milk, and 1/4 tsp. of vanilla extract.
3. Mix all well, to form glaze.
4. Set aside.

Strawberries:

1. Prepare strawberries by removing the green leaves, rinsing and drying them.
2. Slice into thin slices (1/16 inch think).
3. Set aside.

Dessert Assembly:

1. Starting with the bottom layer, spoon 1/4 cup of pudding filling.
2. Arrange strawberry slices around the edges, with the pointy ends outward.
3. Dab some pudding mixture on the bottom of a second pastry layer (for better hold), and place on top of the strawberries.
4. Spread 1/3 cup of pudding on top of this layer, and arrange strawberries slices as before.
5. Spread the sugar glaze on top of the last layer, dab some pudding on the bottom of this layer (for better hold) and place over strawberries.
6. Repeat the above process with all remaining pastry pieces.

Chocolate topping:

1. Using a double boiler, melt 1 oz of dark semi-sweet baking chocolate, mix in 1 tsp heavy cream, and 2 drops of rum extract.
2. Remove from heat, and drizzle over the sugar iced top layer of each dessert. (I placed the melted chocolate in a freezer zip lock bag, made a small pin hole in the corner, to form a thin chocolate flow for decorating the tops). I also, drizzled some chocolate on the bottom of the dessert plates, before setting the Strawberry Napoleons on it.

Enjoy this creamy, super yummy dessert.

Ukrainians love their Borscht.  Actually most Eastern Europeans love all kinds of soups, and very often a hearty soup, with a piece of fresh rye bread, makes a full meal.  Meat is not consumed in large quantities in Europe, as it is in the US, but soup is always the first course served with lunch, or dinner.

This quick and easy version of preparing a Ukrainian Red Beet Borscht, was shared by my cousin from Ukraine.

It is quick easy, because most of the ingredients are already prepared, and do not require much prep time as for the Ukrainian Traditional Borscht, I posted previously.

My family agrees that this Borscht can easily be the main course, since the beans provide sufficient protein, as a substitute for meat, plus all the other veggies in this borscht.

Add some tossed salad, plus a light dessert, and everyone will leave the table quite satisfied.

Three main ingredients, all ready to use; Whole Red Beets, White Beans, and pre-cut Coleslaw cabbage.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of  Whole Beets, shredded
• 1 can of White Beans
• 3 cups of pre-cut cabbage mix for Coleslaw
• 2 1/2 quarts of soup stock, I used ready made chicken broth
• 1 medium potato, peeled and cut up to small chunks
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 Tbs White Vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbs butter or oil, for frying onion and garlic
• 2 Tbs sour cream, or heavy whipping cream
• 2 Tbs fresh Dill, chopped

Directions:

1. Drain the Whole Red Beets, rinse, and shred on a large eye shredder, or in a food processor.
2. Set aside.
3. Drain and rinse the White Beans.
4. Set aside.
5. Peel one medium size potato, and cut to small cubes (size of a dice).
6. Set aside.
7. Pour 2 1/2 quarts of vegetable, chicken, or beef broth into a 4 quarts pot, and bring to boil.
8. Add the potatoes, and cabbage mix.
9. Bring to boil, and cook for 15 minutes.
10. Saute chopped onion and garlic, in butter, until onions are translucent.
11. Add the shredded beets, beans, and sauteed onions, to the borscht.
12. Add vinegar, and cook for 10 minutes.
13. Scoop sour cream, or heavy cream into a cup, mix in a couple of Tbs of hot borscht liquid, to temper the cream, add some more hot liquid, and mix well again.
14. Add the sour cream mixture to the borscht.
15. Do not boil, if using sour cream, to prevent curdling.
16. Add chopped dill.
17. Season to taste, with salt and pepper.

Best served hot.

Great as a reheated leftover.

TIP: To make this recipe vegetarian, use Vegetable Broth as the base, rather than Chicken or Beef Broth.

My next few posts will include the cookie recipes I have introduced to you in my Christmas cookie post.

I am starting with my most favorite cookies, the Cream Wafers.  If you read the ingredients, you might not be able to envision how decadent these really are. They are very light and flaky, resemble a puff pastry, and practically melt in your mouth.

For your convenience, I am also including pictures of the final step by step preparation instructions, which are very important for a successful outcome of this product.

This recipe makes about 4-5 dozen of cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ½ cup heavy cream (whipping cream, not sour cream)
• 2 cups flour, all purpose white flour
• Pinch of salt (tip of a tea spoon)
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Colored sugar (optional, for sprinkling on top)
  Granulated sugar (for dipping)

Directions:

1. Combine butter and cream, and mix thoroughly.
2. Mix in extracts.
3. Add flour and mix well.
4. Flour your hands, and divide the dough into, an orange size, balls.
5. Place balls in a bowl, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, or overnight.
6. Take out one ball at a time, and massage, by squishing it in your hands, for 8-10 seconds.
7. Flatten the ball, place it on a floured work area, and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness.  (Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour as you are rolling it out.  But use flour sparingly as not to make the dough too dense, thus taking away from the flakiness of the cookies).
8. Keep remaining dough balls in the fridge.
9. Using a cookie cutter, cut out 1½ inch cookies (I use a circular shape).
10. Fill a dinner plate with granular sugar.
11. Transfer the rounds into the sugar.
12. Coat both sides of rounds with sugar, pressing them lightly with your fingers.
13. Gather the remaining dough from your work area, form into a ball and follow the above process until all the dough is done. (I try to work with all the fresh dough balls first, as these make the best cookies.  I keep the remnants of the dough from cut outs, in the fridge, until ready to use again.  At the end, I combine all the dough remnants, form them into a ball and follow the rest of the rolling/cutting out process.  These cookies will get denser with each roll out, as you are adding more flour during rolling.  So use as little additional flour as possible).

Remove and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  You do not need to spread these far apart, as they do not spread out, but rather puff out upwards.

Prick each cookie, about 4 times, with a fork (it lets the steam out during baking, helping it to puff out).

If you choose to sprinkle these with colored sugar, this is the time to do it.

Place in a preheated oven at 375o for 7-9 minutes, or just until set, but not browned (these remain at a very light color, even after baking).

Remove and cool on cookie racks.
You can use them plain, or with colored sugar, if you sprinkled them before baking:

or make them into sandwich cookies, with the following filling (I love them the best with the chocolate filling).

Filling Ingredients:

• ¼ cup soft butter
• ¾ cup confectioner (powdered) sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I prefer rum extract)
• 1 ½ oz unsweetened baker’s chocolate, melted (I melt it in a microware for 1 ½ minutes, stirring halfway through).
• Few drops of food coloring (optional, and only if you do not use chocolate)

Directions:

1. Cream all ingredients well, to spreading consistency.
2. Add a drop of water, one at a time, if needed.
3. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
4. Spread filling on the bottom side of each cookie, and cover it with another bottom side cookie (sandwich like).
5. Repeat until all are filled.

TIP:  Thicker cookie rounds will need longer baking time, and will result in lesser total quantity.