Recipe: Saint-Honoré – Road to Pastry

Step 1

Prepare the choux pastry: bring to a boil the milk, water, salt and butter in a saucepan. Make the sure the butter is fully melted.

Step 2

Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately add all the sifted flour.

Step 3

Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon then put the pan back on the heat and continue beating the dough

Step 4

Keep drying the dough up on the heat only for a few minutes until it comes away from the sides of the pan and leaves a thin film on the bottom of the saucepan

Step 5

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and let it cool down for a few minutes

Step 6

Add an egg and stir until it is completely absorbed in the dough

Step 7

Add all the other eggs one at a time. Slightly beat the last egg before adding it then pour it slowly little by little on the dough, checking frequently if the dough has reached the right consistency

Step 8

When the dough is shiny but firm (i.e. not runny), it is ready to be used with a piping bag. Pipe 20 small 3-4cm rounds in staggered rows on a slightly buttered pan. Piping technique: 1) with the piping bag held vertically on the pan, start piping while lifting the bag slightly; 2) when you've reached the right size, stop piping and keep the bag still; 3) quickly "draw" a circle on the puff with the tip of the bag as you lift it over the choux

Step 9

Bake the choux pastry for at least 35-40 minutes at 180°. The final product must be relatively crispy, so don't take the baked pâte à choux out of the oven if it is still soft. Keep the remaining choux pastry in the piping bag for the moment.

Step 10

Prepare the cake base: roll out the puff pastry to a rectangle about 5mm thick and 24cm wide at least

Step 11

Using a pan (or any round object), cut a round of puff pastry that is 24cm of diameter and prick the dough with a fork. Place the round on a pan covered with parchment paper.

Step 12

Pipe one round of choux pastry on the edge of the puff pastry round with a single movement (i.e. don't stop until the end). Technique: keep the piping bag perpendicular to the pan and around 3cm over the dough; press the bag while moving it around the edge

Step 13

With the same technique, pipe a smaller round in the center of the cake base.

Step 14

Bake for around 50 minutes at 180°C

Step 15

Prepare the crème Chiboust: heat the milk with half of the sugar and the vanilla bean in a saucepan. In the meantime, let the gelatin soften in cold water.

Step 16

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and corn starch

Step 17

When the milk is boiling, pour it in three times over the egg mixture and quickly mix every time to prevent the yolks from curdling

Step 18

Put back the liquid mixture into the saucepan and cook on medium heat whisking continuously

Step 19

Allow the pastry cream to boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat. Cover a pan with plastic wrap and pour 1/3 of the hot pastry cream in it. Cover with the remaining part of the plastic wrap and store in the fridge

Step 20

Place the other 2/3 of the cream in a clean bowl, add the gelatin and stir to dissolve.

Step 21

Cover the bowl with plastic film on the cream and set aside. Reducing the amount of air in contact with the cream will result in the formation of less bacteria. In the meantime, do not refrigerate nor allow the cream to set while preparing the Italian meringue.

Step 22

For the Italian meringue, start preparing a sugar syrup by placing the sugar and then the water in a saucepan on medium heat

Step 23

When the syrup reaches 110°, start whipping the egg whites on medium-high speed

Step 24

When the syrup reaches 119°, the egg whites should be whipped to soft peaks. Now you can pour the syrup slowly on the whipped egg whites while the mixer is running at high speed. Pour in a steady stream between the side of the bowl and the beater.

Step 25

Continue whipping at high speed until the syrup is incorporated, approximately 1 minute

Step 26

Quickly incorporate one third of the hot meringue into the warm pastry cream with a spatula

Step 27

Gently fold in the remaining meringue until no strikes nor lumps remain: you now have a Chiboust cream. Keep it covered at room temperature, or better on a bain marie of slightly simmering water.

Step 28

Make a hole on the bottom of the choux with a knife and fill them with pastry cream (when the cream is cold). This action can be performed while preparing the Italian meringue.

Step 29

Prepare the caramel glaze: put the sugar, glucose and water in a saucepan on medium heat. Don't stir with a spatula or a spoon, just leave it there...

Step 30

After a few minutes the syrup will boil and eventually become of a brown colour. When this happens, quickly place the pan for a couple of seconds in a bowl of cold water to stop it from cooking

Step 31

Dip the top of the filled choux in the caramel (wait for the caramel to thicken a bit if necessary). Yes I made the mistake of stirring the caramel which crystallized on the border...

Step 32

Place the glazed choux on a silicon mat with the glazed surface down and press gently to flatten it

Step 33

When the caramel on the choux is solid, slightly dip the bottom of the choux in the caramel then arrange them all on the baked choux pastry around the edge of the cake base. Here less caramel than in the previous step is needed as "glue" for the choux. It might be necessary to reheat the caramel if it thickens too much

Step 34

Pour some cream in the cake base so to have a 2-3cm layer

Step 35

Decorate the top of the cake with the remaining cream using a piping bag fitted with the famous St. Honoré tip