Exotic Fruit & Coconut Praline Puff Pastry Bars

To make this recipe for exotic fruit and coconut praline puff pastry bars, start by preparing all the ingredients for the croissant laminated dough.

Croissant dough: Place the fresh baker's yeast into the stand mixer bowl.

Pour in the cold milk, straight from the fridge...

...and the water at room temperature. Mix to dissolve the yeast.

Add the type 45 flour.

Also add the fine salt...

...the caster sugar...

...the honey...

...as well as the softened butter cut into pieces.

Start mixing all these ingredients together with the dough hook attachment of the mixer...

...for 8 minutes, at low speed (1 or 2).

After 8 minutes of kneading...

...you will have a firm dough.

Continue kneading for 5 minutes...

...at a higher speed (3 or 4).

At the end of kneading, the dough should be firm, homogeneous, and around 23°C. The more the dough is kneaded, the warmer it will become.

Stop the mixer and detach the dough from the dough hook.

Shape the dough into a ball...

...and cover it with a sheet of cling film to protect it from the air...

...then leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

After this resting time, remove the cling film...

...then form a slightly flattened ball and place it on a sheet of cling film.

Wrap this dough carefully, making a double layer with the cling film. Leave to rest in the fridge for 12 hours, until the next day.

Place the extra dry butter on a sheet of baking paper.

Fold the bottom and top of the paper over the butter, then fold in the sides to enclose it completely.

Roll out the butter with the rolling pin...

...to obtain a square of about 18cm on each side, keeping the thickness even. Chill.

The next day, take the dough out of the fridge, remove the cling film, and place it on a lightly floured work surface.

Roll this dough lengthwise with the rolling pin to form a strip about 40 x 18cm.

Place the extra dry butter in the centre of this dough rectangle. The width of the butter should be similar to the dough's width, and the top and bottom parts of the dough should fold over the butter so that the two edges meet.

Fold the bottom of the dough over the butter, pressing lightly on the edges to seal.

Do the same with the top part of the dough, folding it down so the edges meet.

Rotate the dough a quarter turn so that the central seam is vertical in front of you. Roll it out gently so that the dough and butter spread evenly.

Gradually, the length of the dough will increase. It's important to maintain an even thickness of about 1cm.

Proceed with the first turn, which will be a double turn: fold the top of the dough down 5 to 6cm, then fold the bottom up to meet it.

Then fold the whole thing in half upwards, like a wallet.

Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before continuing.

Roll the dough out again on the work surface to a thickness of 8 to 10mm.

Rotate the dough a quarter turn clockwise. Give it a single turn: fold the right third of the dough towards the centre...

...and fold the left third of the dough over to the centre.

Wrap this croissant dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. It can be kept like this in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

After this resting time, roll the croissant dough out evenly to 5mm thick. Then, using a multi-wheel cutter, cut strips of dough 8cm wide. If you don't have a multi-wheel cutter, you can use a knife and a ruler.

This is what the result should look like.

Mark the dough with a knife and a graduated ruler every 22cm.

Then cut to obtain rectangles of dough measuring 22 x 8cm.

Take the viennoiserie bar moulds and place them on a perforated baking sheet lined with a Silpat silicone baking mat. Then grease them with a release spray.

Place the croissant dough rectangles at the bottom of the bar moulds in a U shape, as shown in the photo. Then place a stainless steel bar for viennoiserie moulds in the centre of each mould, directly in contact with the croissant dough.

This bar ensures an open cavity after baking. For hygiene reasons and to facilitate unmoulding, wrap these bars in baking parchment cut to size. This way, the dough will not come into contact with the steel. Place in a proofing chamber set to 28°C. Leave to proof for at least 1h30 to 2h.

After proofing, brush the edges of the dough with a pastry brush using egg wash made from one egg yolk and a tablespoon of water. Place the tray in a fan-assisted oven preheated to 180°C, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (baking time may vary depending on the oven).

Mango/passionfruit crémeux: Prepare all the ingredients. Mix the powdered gelatine with the hydration water (tap or mineral water) and leave to hydrate for 15 minutes.

Pour the mango purée and passionfruit purée into a saucepan.

Add the caster sugar...

...as well as the whole eggs...

...and the egg yolks.

Heat over medium heat, whisking quickly...

...and cook until the mixture thickens. Be careful not to scramble the eggs. Keep the temperature under control and whisk continuously.

Once thickened, remove the pan from the heat and add the hydrated gelatine to the hot mixture...

...and whisk vigorously to fully incorporate the gelatine.

Transfer everything into a measuring jug (a tall, narrow container)...

...and blend using a hand blender.

Then add the butter in pieces...

...and blend again until the butter is fully incorporated and the mango/passionfruit crémeux is smooth and homogeneous.

Cover the crémeux directly with cling film and chill.

Chantilly: Pour the whipping cream and powdered vanilla into the stand mixer bowl. You can also use vanilla pod, liquid vanilla extract, or vanilla sugar.

Start whisking the cream and add the caster sugar right from the start.

Once the sugar is added, whip the cream at high speed until it is airy and holds its shape.

The chantilly is now firm. Be careful not to overwhip or it will turn into butter.

Once the croissant dough rectangles are baked, they should look like this.

Gently release the viennoiserie bars while still warm...

...and remove the stainless steel bars wrapped in parchment paper.

Leave to cool at room temperature.

Exotic fruit cream: Remove the mango/passionfruit crémeux from the fridge, place it in the mixer bowl, and whisk at high speed to loosen it.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl to gather all the mixture in the centre. Continue mixing until perfectly smooth with no lumps.

Fold in 250 g of the previously made and weighed chantilly. Gently combine with a spatula...

...until you get a light, homogeneous exotic fruit cream. Transfer this preparation into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle Ø 12mm. Place the remaining chantilly in a second piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle Ø 18mm.

Filling: Pour the crunchy-textured coconut praline into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle Ø 5mm. Pipe a strip of this praline along the base of the croissant dough. Adjust the quantity to your liking.

Pipe a swirl of chantilly on top of this coconut praline, alternating with a drop of exotic fruit cream...

...continuing this way along the full length of the viennoiserie bar, as shown in the photo.

Finish: Sprinkle shredded coconut over the viennoiserie bar.

Pipe a few drops of coconut praline between the chantilly and the exotic fruit cream.

Finish decorating with passionfruit chocolate decorations. To make these, first melt passionfruit inspiration chocolate. Spread it in a thin layer over an acetate sheet to crystallise. Once crystallised, break it into small pieces.

This is what the result should look like.

Repeat the process for all the viennoiserie bars, always alternating chantilly and exotic fruit cream...

...like this.

Here are our viennoiserie bars filled with exotic fruit and coconut praline. I recommend eating them fairly quickly, with minimal time in the fridge, to maintain the texture of the viennoiserie while still keeping the chantilly safe (ideally, store in a cool room outside the fridge).
Enjoy!