Light Milk Pastilla

📝 Ingredients

• 9 brick pastry sheets
• 20 g unsalted butter
• 500 ml semi-skimmed milk
• 45 g cornflour
• 1 egg
• 50 g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp orange blossom water
• 60 g whole almonds
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Whisk
• Large dish
• Baking trays
• Pastry brush
• Wire rack

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Make the cream: in a saucepan, whisk together the egg, sugar and cornflour while cold, then gradually pour in the milk, whisking to avoid lumps. The mixture must be perfectly smooth before it goes on the heat.
2. Heat over a medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping the bottom and sides well. After 5 to 7 min, the cream thickens all at once: keep going for 1 min after it starts to bubble, until it's thick and coats the whisk.
3. Off the heat, add the orange blossom water and stir. Spread the cream in a large dish, press cling film onto the surface to stop a skin forming and leave to cool for 30 min in the fridge, or 15 min in the freezer.
4. Toast the almonds in the oven on a baking tray for 8 to 10 min, until golden right through (break one open to check). Leave to cool, then roughly chop with a knife.
5. Melt the butter in the microwave for 20 s. Cut each brick sheet in half to make 18 half-moons, removing the separating paper. Lay them out without overlapping on trays lined with baking paper and brush them lightly with melted butter, on one side only.
6. Bake for 5 to 7 min, in 2 or 3 batches, until the sheets are golden and really crisp. Keep a close eye on them for the last few minutes: they go from golden to burnt very quickly. Leave to cool flat on a wire rack.
7. Just before serving, whisk the cold cream for a few seconds to loosen it. On each plate, place a brick half-moon, spread over 2 heaped tbsp of cream and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Repeat once, then finish with a half-moon.
8. Dust the top with cinnamon and the rest of the chopped almonds, then serve straight away: assembled too early, the cream softens the pastry, which loses all its crunch.