INGREDIENTS: Makes 8 towers
	12 sheets of phyllo pastry
	1/2 cup/125 g/4 oz butter
	5 to 6 tablespoons honey
	about 2 quarts/375 g/3/4 lb mixed red berries
	for the pastry cream 2 cups/500 ml/16 fl oz milk
	1 vanilla bean, split
	5 egg yolks
	7 tablespoons/90 g/3 oz sugar
	3 tablespoons/22 g/3/4 oz flour
	for the Chantilly cream 1 cup/250 ml/8 fl oz heavy cream

	2 to 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
	2 tablespoons Cognac
	3-3 1/2-inch/8-9-cm round cookie cutter

For the pastry cream: Scald the milk in a medium saucepan with the vanilla bean, cover, and leave it to infuse off the heat for about 10 minutes. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and light, about 2 minutes. Stir in the flour. Whisk the scalded milk into the egg mixture and return it to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the pastry cream comes to a boil and thickens. Simmer it and continue to stir for 1 or 2 minutes, then strain it into a bowl -- the vanilla bean can be rinsed and used again. Press a piece of plastic wrap on the cream to prevent a skin forming and chill it.

Heat the oven to 450°F/230°C. Brush two baking sheets with butter. Heat the honey and remaining butter in a small saucepan until melted. Lay a sheet of phyllo on the work surface and brush it lightly with the honey butter. Lay a second sheet on top and brush again. Repeat with 2 more sheets, keeping the remaining sheets covered with a slightly damp towel. Using the cookie cutter, stamp out as many rounds as possible from the dough and set them on the buttered baking sheet. You’ll have some dough trimmings, so if you like, cut some crescents too. Bake the rounds until the phyllo is golden and the glaze on top begins to caramelize, 5 to 6 minutes. The layers will puff and separate slightly. Gently transfer them to a rack to cool.

Meanwhile, layer 4 more sheets of phyllo with the honey butter and stamp out more rounds for a total of 24. Set the rounds, with any crescents, on the second baking sheet, bake, and let them cool as before. Layer the remaining pastry sheets and cut them in triangles or other shapes that you can later use to decorate the tower in a fanciful design. Bake them also.

Pick over the berries, washing them only if they are sandy. Leave them with some of their decorative hulls and stems, and slice them only if very large.

For the light pastry cream: Whip the heavy cream for Chantilly until it holds a soft peak (this is quick work if the cream is well chilled). Add the confectioners’ sugar and Cognac and continue whipping until the cream again holds a soft peak. Whisk the cold pastry cream to smooth any lumps which may have formed as it cooled, and then fold in the whipped Chantilly cream.

To assemble the dessert: Set a round of pastry on each of 8 large individual plates. Add a spoonful of light pastry cream and top with some berries, using the less attractive ones for this bottom layer. Top with a second pastry round. Spread another spoonful of cream on top, add berries, and cover with a third round. Pile a bit of cream on top of the round and stick the pastry shapes into it, creating your own fantasy construction. Decorate the plates with the remaining berries and serve as soon as possible.

This Recipe of the Month selection comes from Anne Willan's newest release: Anne Willan From My Château Kitchen (Clarkson Potter/Publishers. April 2000) www.randomhouse.com