Kazandibi (Caramelized Milk Pudding) vs Mille-feuille: Classic French Custard and Puff Pastry

Both desserts rely on milk, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch and butter, but put them to very different use. Kazandibi thickens milk with cornstarch and rice flour, without eggs, then cooks it over butter and sugar until the bottom turns deep caramel, so a creamy, milky top meets a slightly chewy, toasted crust; it is chilled until firm, with optional cinnamon on top. Mille-feuille builds a richer egg-yolk pastry cream with vanilla bean, finished with butter and piped between crisp puff pastry under a sweet icing glaze. One celebrates caramelized milk; the other, crunch against cream.