Raspberry Vanilla Mille-feuille

These beautiful classic patisserie are true works of art. The flaky pastry is not at all hard to make but it does need a little time to chill between stages. If you're short of time don't let that put you off, simply use ready made all-butter puff pastry to speed up the process.

• Sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a mixing bowl and add half the cubes of butter. Put the remaining butter back in the fridge to keep cool. Using your fingers and thumbs lightly rub together the flour and butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. With a metal spoon, stir around 100ml of ice cold water though to bring the dough together in a ball, using your hands at the end to gently press the pastry together. Use a little more water if needed. Wrap well in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll the chilled pastry out into a rectangle of about 40 x 28 cm, keeping the short edge towards you. Scatter the remaining butter evenly over the surface. Take the top third of the pastry rectangle and fold down into the middle, then take the bottom third and fold up over to the middle - just like folding a letter. Turn the pastry through 90 degrees and roll out into a rectangle of about the same size as you started with. Repeat the folding, rolling and turning step three more times then wrap the pastry once again in cling film and chill for a further 30 minutes.
• Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut into 6 even sized pieces. Roll each piece out on a lightly floured work surface until it is about 3mm thick. Using a piece of baking paper or thin card, cut a rectangular template of 5 x 12 cm. Use the template to cut 3 identical rectangles of pastry, laying each on a lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 5 pieces of pastry, giving you 18 identical rectangles, spread out over 2 baking sheets. Chill for a final 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC fan/gas 7.
• Prick the tops of each pastry rectangle all over with a fork to stop them puffing up too much and dust liberally with icing sugar. Bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes until crisp and golden. Remove the pastries from the oven, quickly turn them over and put back in the oven for a further 2 minutes to crisp the base. Remove and set aside to cool completely on a baking rack.
• Make the pastry cream by adding the eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Whisk together for about a minute until smooth and slightly thickened. Pour the milk into a small pan and bring up to just below boiling point, making sure not to let it boil over. Pour over the egg mixture, stirring constantly until completely combined. Pour back into the pan and set over a low heat, whisking continuously for a few minutes until thick and smooth. Scrape into a bowl, press down a layer of clingfilm on top to prevent a skin forming and set aside to cool completely.
• Once the pastry cream is cold, give it a good stir to loosen it up. Whisk the double cream in a bowl until whipped into soft peaks, ideally using an electric whisk. Add the pastry cream and whisk together until smooth then spoon into a piping bag. The filling will hold in the fridge for several hours before you pipe it, so make ahead of time if you like.
• When you are ready to serve (do not fill the pastries more than an hour in advance or they will go soggy), lay out 6 pieces of pastry and pipe about half the filling between them. Dot over half the raspberries and gently lay another sheet of pastry on top of each. Pipe over the remaining cream, followed by the remaining raspberries to top off.