The infamous Le Saint Honore from esteemed Laduree bakery in ParisWell, I am officially off to Montreal! Taking a beautiful train ride along the Adirondacks route. My first time for both the train and visiting Old MTL, so I am tres excited. My plan is to document the entire experience through my blog, but even more so to bring back amazingly delicious French recipes to try as soon as I touch back home (meaning, please vote for the crepes recipe in the post below!!). So here is a little teaser. A dear new friend went through allot of trouble teaching this exquisite french cake. I hope you enjoy!
Gateau St. Honore Pastry
recipe by Abi Porter for Dujour Magazine
Crème Pâtissière
To make things simple, you can make this the day before and keep it in the refrigerator.
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 pinch salt (only if using unsalted butter)
1/2 tsp unsalted butter
Directions:
1. Whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup milk, sugar and vanilla. Mix in cornstarch and salt
2. Bring the remaining milk to a scald* in a saucepan. Pour the hot milk in small stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk as you pour (very important). Once incorporated, pour everything back into the saucepan.
* To scald is to heat to just below the boiling point.
3. Whisk the mixture over medium heat until it thickens and firms up. Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
4. Pour the hot custard into a bowl and plunge the bottom of the bowl into another larger bowl of iced-water to cool, give it a whisk occasionally.
5. Once it reaches room temperature, scoop the crème pâtissière into a piping bag (twist the open end to seal up the custard). Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Choux pastry:
1 cup water
1/4 c unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
3 large eggs + 1 large egg (beaten lightly)
Directions:
1. Place the water, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil. When the butter is completely melted, remove from the heat and add the flour all at once.
2. Mix rapidly with a spatula until fully combined.
3. Place the mixture on the stove over a low heat and dry mix for about 5-6 minutes. The dough should be soft and but not sticky. If there is a thin white film at the bottom of the pan, it means the dough is sufficiently dried.
4. Transfer to a bowl and spread to cool. Let the dough cool slightly.
5. Add the 3 eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next.
6. The dough should be smooth, shiny and as thick and heavy as mayonnaise. When your spatula is lifted, the dough should form a V shape. If the mixture looks right to you, stop here. If it is still too thick add the last egg a little at the time to control consistency. You do not want a mixture that is too runny, the choux puff will not hold its shape.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degree F Cover a large baking tray with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (or simply make about a 1/2 inch snip in a large ziploc bag) with the dough.
8. Pipe the dough into balls - about 1 inch wide for the small puffs and 2 1/2 inches wide for the bottom puff (3 ½ inches for the bottom of the gateau st. honore). Press the tops down, making it completely level. If you don't press the tops down they will puff up too high.
10. Bake for about 35 minutes or until well puffed and golden. The drier, the crustier, the better - you want a cavernous, not soggy, center. Shut off the heat, leave the oven door slightly ajar, and let the puffs cool slowly. The puffs may collapse if they are cooled too fast.
Poured fondant
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup corn syrup
Directions:
1. Heat sugar, water and corn syrup over medium heat to the soft-ball stage (238°F; 114°C).
2.Pour into a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Wash the candy thermometer well and reinsert into the syrup. Let the syrup cool undisturbed in the workbowl to 140°F (60°C), about 30 minutes. Remove the thermometer.
3. Add any coloring or flavoring (vanilla, almond extract, etc.) and process 2 to 3 minutes, until the syrup completely converts from a glassy syrup to an opaque paste. Pour into a bowl until ready to use.
To assemble:
Crème Pâtissière
To make things simple, you can make this the day before and keep it in the refrigerator.
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar-
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 pinch salt (only if using unsalted butter)
1/2 tsp unsalted butter
Directions:
1. Whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup milk, sugar and vanilla. Mix in cornstarch and salt
2. Bring the remaining milk to a scald* in a saucepan. Pour the hot milk in small stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk as you pour (very important). Once incorporated, pour everything back into the saucepan.
* To scald is to heat to just below the boiling point.
3. Whisk the mixture over medium heat until it thickens and firms up. Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
4. Pour the hot custard into a bowl and plunge the bottom of the bowl into another larger bowl of iced-water to cool, give it a whisk occasionally.
5. Once it reaches room temperature, scoop the crème pâtissière into a piping bag (twist the open end to seal up the custard). Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Choux pastry:
1 cup water
1/4 c unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
3 large eggs + 1 large egg (beaten lightly)
Directions:
1. Place the water, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil. When the butter is completely melted, remove from the heat and add the flour all at once.
2. Mix rapidly with a spatula until fully combined.
3. Place the mixture on the stove over a low heat and dry mix for about 5-6 minutes. The dough should be soft and but not sticky. If there is a thin white film at the bottom of the pan, it means the dough is sufficiently dried.
4. Transfer to a bowl and spread to cool. Let the dough cool slightly.
5. Add the 3 eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next.
6. The dough should be smooth, shiny and as thick and heavy as mayonnaise. When your spatula is lifted, the dough should form a V shape. If the mixture looks right to you, stop here. If it is still too thick add the last egg a little at the time to control consistency. You do not want a mixture that is too runny, the choux puff will not hold its shape.
7. Preheat oven to 375 degree F Cover a large baking tray with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (or simply make about a 1/2 inch snip in a large ziploc bag) with the dough.
8. Pipe the dough into balls - about 1 inch wide for the small puffs and 2 1/2 inches wide for the bottom puff (3 ½ inches for the bottom of the gateau st. honore). Press the tops down, making it completely level. If you don't press the tops down they will puff up too high.
10. Bake for about 35 minutes or until well puffed and golden. The drier, the crustier, the better - you want a cavernous, not soggy, center. Shut off the heat, leave the oven door slightly ajar, and let the puffs cool slowly. The puffs may collapse if they are cooled too fast.
Poured fondant
2 ½ cups sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup corn syrup
Directions:
1. Heat sugar, water and corn syrup over medium heat to the soft-ball stage (238°F; 114°C).
2.Pour into a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Wash the candy thermometer well and reinsert into the syrup. Let the syrup cool undisturbed in the workbowl to 140°F (60°C), about 30 minutes. Remove the thermometer.
3. Add any coloring or flavoring (vanilla, almond extract, etc.) and process 2 to 3 minutes, until the syrup completely converts from a glassy syrup to an opaque paste. Pour into a bowl until ready to use.
To assemble:
1. Make a small hole in the bottom of the puff (a knife or piping tip should do the trick) and fill with crème pâtissière. Dip the tops of the filled puffs into the poured fondant (if fondant has hardened, simply microwave to liquefy). Leave to dry until the fondant has hardened.
2. Place three small puffs on top of the bottom one.
3. Fit a pastry bag with a jumbo star tip. Fill with whipped cream and pipe figure eights between the three puffs (alternatively, dollop it on with a spoon. It tastes the same, we promise!)
4. Top with berries of your choice.
History 101: This authentic Saint Honore cake recipe was first published back in 1882. It is believed that Paris pastry chef Chiboust created the first Gateau Saint Honore in 1846, and it immediately came to symbolize the high standards in French pastry making. The Gateau St. Honore is also known as the "Ball Cake" because of the little caramel-covered pastry balls surrounding the top of the cake to form a crown-like decoration. The richly decorated cake is named for Saint Honore, the seventh-century Bishop of Amiens, and the French patron saint of pastry chefs and bakers. Its believed to be quite a difficult recipe when in actuality a beginner can master, but is worth all the effort!
2. Place three small puffs on top of the bottom one.
3. Fit a pastry bag with a jumbo star tip. Fill with whipped cream and pipe figure eights between the three puffs (alternatively, dollop it on with a spoon. It tastes the same, we promise!)
4. Top with berries of your choice.
History 101: This authentic Saint Honore cake recipe was first published back in 1882. It is believed that Paris pastry chef Chiboust created the first Gateau Saint Honore in 1846, and it immediately came to symbolize the high standards in French pastry making. The Gateau St. Honore is also known as the "Ball Cake" because of the little caramel-covered pastry balls surrounding the top of the cake to form a crown-like decoration. The richly decorated cake is named for Saint Honore, the seventh-century Bishop of Amiens, and the French patron saint of pastry chefs and bakers. Its believed to be quite a difficult recipe when in actuality a beginner can master, but is worth all the effort!
Montreal's a wonderful place. I hope you adore it as much as I do! ♥
ReplyDeletepomeline: ahh thank you so much! just arrived and loving it so far. the french, the kind helpful people and the bit of victorian architecture i caught so far. tomoro....FOOD!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lola,
ReplyDeleteI came across your website while looking for a photograph of a Gateau St Honore for a short article that I am writing for my own website.
I think your blog is lovely, the pictures are really pretty. I would like to use the photograph of the cake on my website. I will of course credit you and link back so that my customers can view your blog.