Saint Honoré Cake
Saint Honoré Cake
Saint Honoré Cake
Pate a Choux
125 g Milk
125 g Water
15 g Trimoline, or honey
5 g Salt
Chantilly
500 g Heavy cream
10 g Vanilla paste
20 g Sugar
Chiboust Cream
500 g Milk
15 g Sugar
10 g Vanilla
30 g Sugar
25 g Flour
25 g Corn starch
6 g Gelatin sheets
Chiboust Meringue
120 g Egg whites (4), at room temp
150 g Sugar
45 g Water
Caramel
250 g Sugar
60 g Water
About
1 Pastry Chef Chiboust who in 1846 created the St Honoré; a cake named in honor of the
pastry shop that was located on the Paris street Rue Saint-Honoré and also in honor of
St. Honoré, the patron saint of bakers and pastry cooks.
Puff Pastry
2 Thaw store-bought puff pastry in the refrigerator overnight. To make you own puff
pastry, look it up. Roll puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface into a
0.11''https://bruno.b-cdn.net/3mm thick sheet. Prick pastry generously using a fork or a
pic-vite roller docker to prevent dough from puffing up too much. Cut into a
8''https://bruno.b-cdn.net/20cm disks. You can make one or 2 large disks instead. Place
disks of dough on a humidified silicone mat or parchment paper. It prevents dough from
shrinking. Keep refrigerated or freeze for later use. Save scraps, overlap them and chill.
Repeat the rolling process and chill again to rest. Cut pastry sheet into 3.5''/9cm
individual disk if desired and refrigerate.
Pate A Choux
3 Bring to a boil, water, milk, butter, trimoline and salt. Remove from the heat, stir in flour
until fully incorporated. Turn the flame back on, stirring dough swiftly on medium-high
heat for about 3 min or until it forms a ball and film on the bottom of the saucepan. This
initial cooking causes the starch in the flour to gelatinize, which will help the pastry hold
onto steam and puff up. Transfer dough in mixing bowl and beat on low with the paddle
attachment for about 3 min or until most steam is gone. This prevents eggs from
cooking if added too early. Add eggs at once and mix until smooth on low speed. Pipe
out eclair onto a non-stick perforated silicone liner. Pipe a thin 1/2''/1.2cm thick ring of
dough on the edge of the pastry. For the large piece only, pipe out a snail’s shell from the
center; this will strengthen the base of the cake and stabilize the filling. Pipe out 30 or
more small puffs. Dust powdered sugar and bake. At that point, the unbaked shells can
be made in advance and kept frozen for weeks.
Baking
4 Bake in a preheated 350ºF/180ºC oven. Bake pate a choux in the middle of the oven for
40 minutes; one sheet at the time. Do not open the oven door during baking or it will
deflate. Then, turn oven off leaving the door ajar for 15 minutes. The small puffs wont
need more time to dry out though. Remove from oven and let cool completely on wire
rack. If using a convection oven, the baking time may be shortened by 5 minute or so.
Chantilly
5 In a chilled mixer bowl, whip to medium peaks. Chill until ready to use.
Chiboust Cream
6 Soak gelatin in cold water to soften, and drain. Bring milk, sugar and vanilla to a boil.
Meanwhile, beat yolks, sugar, flour and starch. Pour hot milk gradually into the yolk
mixture. Return saucepan to the stove, bring to boil and cook for 2 minutes whisking
swiftly. Turn off the heat and add the gelatin. Cover the custard and set aside. In a clean
mixer bowl, beat room temp egg whites along with the cream of tartar. Meanwhile, cook
syrup to 245ºF/120ºC. Pour hot syrup in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl.
Increase speed to high and whip until the meringue is formed but not too firm. In the
mean time, smooth out custard with a whisk and mix in one-third of the Italian meringue.
Then, with a rubber spatula fold remaining meringue. Transfer Chiboust onto a clean
baking tray to cool. Fill puffs and refrigerate.
Caramel
7 In a small saucepan combine corn syrup, water and sugar. Cover and cook mixture on
hight heat for 5 minutes; this will self clean the sides of the saucepan. Avoid stirring
mixture until caramel stage is reached. Remove the lid, reduce heat to medium high and
cook to light amber caramel. Immerse the bottom of the saucepan in cold water to stop
cooking.
Montage
8 Dip one-third of each filled puff in caramel and place it head side down on a silicone mat
or greased parchment paper or a nonstick pan. If caramel hardens, reheat it. When the
caramelized puffs have set, begin to assemble the cake. Dip each bottom puff in
caramel and place them side by side on the ring of dough; about 18 choux – depending
on the size of course. Use 3 puffs for the individual cakes. Fill St honoré with a thick
layer of Chiboust and top with a nice finish using the St Honoré pastry tip for best
results. St Honoré can be finished with vanilla whipped cream as well. Top large Saint
Honoré with a puff and sprinkle some crushed caramelized nuts (see Paris-Brest recipe)
for individuals. Serve within a day. Enjoy!