Impress Your Guests With Homemade Napoleons

Ron's favorite dessert is a napoleon. Flaky layers of puffed pastry, whipped cream, fresh strawberries, and an iced topping. How could that be bad? Well, he has certain things he likes in his napoleon and certain things he doesn't. Traditionally, a napoleon has three layers of puffed pastry, and two layers of either chocolate ganashe, pastry cream, or whipped cream. Ron likes whipped cream only, and although he can sometimes find those at St. Tropez, they're not always available. So, I decided to make napoleons, and if I'd known how easy it was (with the help of Pepperidge Farm puffed pastry), I would have done it sooner. I made them with a whipped cream filling only, and from start to finish they took about 45 minutes. Here's what I did: Easy Whipped Cream Napoleons 1 package Pepperidge Farm puffed pastry 1 pint heavy cream, for whipping 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced thin confectioners sugar milk Defrost puffed pastry according to directions, then lay flat and cut into rectangles, according to the size you want your napoleons to be. Lay on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then put another layer of parchment paper on top. Then, put a heavy pan or skillet on top of the entire cookie sheet (beans or rice would work too), to keep the puffed pastry from puffing up. I know, it's supposed to puff up, but you don't want it to for this dessert. You want to keep it flat. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the weight and let the puffed pastry cool. While the pastry is cooking, whip cream, then add about a tablespoon of confectioner's sugar. For the top icing, mix confectioner's sugar that has been sifted with a little milk, until it is smooth and icing like consistency. Assembly: Place one piece of puffed pastry on the bottom, then top with whipped cream and a few sliced strawberries. Repeat with another piece of puffed pastry, whipped cream and strawberries. Top with puffed pastry, then coat with icing mixture. If you want to be fancy like the commercially bought ones, melt some chocolate chips, put in a pastry bag or a plastic bag and cut the corner so you can squeeze it out, then pipe lines on top of the icing. Take a toothpick to make the little swirls. This adds nothing, but is decorative. This is so simple....If you like other fillings, go for it. Make a chocolate ganache or a pastry cream, or if you're really lazy, make an instant vanilla pudding and fill with that. Lots of possibilities, depending on your taste. Mine came out beautiful and delicious. This sounds like a terrible thing for a diabetic to make, but it is really easy to modify. I used a little bit of artificial sweetner to sweeten the whipping cream, and I left off the layer of icing, which Ron didn't particularly like anyway. I just sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top. Very low in sugar. High in fat, but as a special treat I don't think it's all that bad. You non diabetics, go ahead and enjoy this classic dessert.