Simple, elegant Napoleon cake by chef Laura for small family gatherings this holiday season

A simple meringue takes minutes to make and bake.

The layers of the cake add to the layers of flavor in each bite. 

Chef Laura has prepared a simple and elegant dessert using puff pastry, custard, caramel sauce, and meringue. This particular recipe may be dressed up with berries, chocolate shavings, or any topping for additional flavors and aesthetics. 

Finding new recipes to add to our bag of treats will please the family, ourselves, and beat the winter blues. For this particular dessert, a little goes a long way. Serve with coffee or a port. 
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Napoleon Cake
1 or 2 packs of puff pastry Pepperidge Farm
(depends on the desired number of layers)
Box of vanilla pudding mix
Dulce de Leche (Nestle's)

Meringue
Three egg whites (room temperature)
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
Begin by thawing the puff pastry. After a quick thaw, apply a rolling pin to the pastry to increase the size. Place the puff pastry on a baking sheet and bake each layer, you can also use a baking sheet with parchment paper. Make holes w a fork to the pastry so it doesn’t 'puff' too much. Cook each sheet at 400 F for 12-15 min. When ready let them cool on a rack.

Next, fill the layers with a vanilla custard that you can make or a box of vanilla pudding and alternate with Dulce de Leche (Nestle brand) .

For the topping there are several possibilities: Make a simple merengue (recipe to follow), decorate with confectioners sugar and lemon juice frosting or use a good whipped cream. Top with strawberries to finish. Cool in the fridge for 30 minutes and  enjoy!

Basic Meringue:
Preheat of to 425 degrees. 
Beat egg whites in medium bowl with electric mixer until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, 1 tbsp. at a time, until sugar is dissolved and there are stiff peaks. 
Pipe dollops of meringue onto the pie
Bake 4 - 5 minutes until the tips are lightly brown