sheet pans lined with parchment paper 1 dough docker or fork Plastic wrap 1 digital thermometer KitchenAid or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment 1 rubber spatula 1 wire rack 1 pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip 1 ruler 1 long serrated knife or electric serrated knife Paper >> Read this recipe through twice from start to finish UNDERSTANDING INGREDIENTS The cream used to fill these Napoléons is called mousseline, a pastry cream enriched with butter Pastry cream will always stiffen up once it is chilled, but in order to be firm enough to hold its shape once piped, it needs additional fat Fat is a solid and crystallizes once it cools, so the more of it you add to the pastry cream, the firmer your cream will become once it cools If you didn’t add a fat you would need to incorporate gelatin into the pastry cream as a gelling agent It is important that the butter be soft when you add it to the pastry cream, and that the pastry cream not be too cold, or the butter will crystallize into little lumps instead of being homogenized with the cream Because we need to add a good quantity of butter to the pastry cream so it will be sufficiently stiff, we do not melt butter with the milk as we ... important that the butter be soft when you add it to the pastry cream, and that the pastry cream not be too cold, or the butter will crystallize into little lumps instead of being homogenized with the cream... once it cools, so the more of it you add to the pastry cream, the firmer your cream will become once it cools If you didn’t add a fat you would need to incorporate gelatin into the pastry cream as a... homogenized with the cream Because we need to add a good quantity of butter to the pastry cream so it will be sufficiently stiff, we do not melt butter with the milk as we