Phyllo Napoleons with Eggnog Cream and Less Sugar

Ingredients

• PASTRY CREAM:
• 2 tablespoons Sugar In The Raw®
• 2 tablespoons Stevia In The Raw®
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 3 egg yolks
• ¾ cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 teaspoons dark rum
• PHYLLO LAYERS:
• ½ (16 ounce) package phyllo dough, thawed
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup heavy cream
• Whole nutmeg, for garnish

Step 1

Stir the sugar, stevia, cornstarch, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the egg yolks and stir everything together until it’s nice and smooth. Next, heat the milk in a saucepan until it’s just about to simmer. Slowly whisk about half of the hot milk into the yolk mixture to warm it up, then pour that back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk. Keep stirring constantly over medium heat until the mixture thickens a bit. Once thickened, strain the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl, then stir in the butter and rum. Press plastic wrap right onto the surface to keep a skin from forming, and pop it in the fridge to chill for at least a couple of hours.

Step 2

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 400°F. Mix the sugar and stevia together in a small bowl. Lay out your phyllo sheets on a clean surface and cover them with a dry towel, then a damp one to keep them from drying out. Take one sheet, brush it lightly with melted butter, and sprinkle a little of the sugar-stevia mix on top. Keep layering sheets like this—brush with butter, sprinkle sugar—until you have eight layers stacked up. Brush the top layer with more butter and sugar as well. Then, cut the stack in half lengthwise, and slice those strips into about 2-inch rectangles.

Step 3

Place as many rectangles as you can fit on a baking sheet, leaving some space between each. To keep them flat while baking, place another baking sheet on top, pressing down gently. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until the phyllo is golden and crisp. Let them cool completely on a wire rack before moving on, and bake any leftovers the same way.

Step 4

For the filling, whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Give the chilled pastry cream a quick stir to loosen it up, then gently fold in the whipped cream. To assemble, lay a third of the phyllo rectangles out on your counter, spread a layer of the cream mixture on each, then top with another phyllo rectangle. Spread more cream and finish with a final phyllo piece so each stack has three layers of phyllo and two layers of cream. Finish things off with a little freshly grated nutmeg on top, and enjoy right away!