French cuisine · Desserts & Sweets

Saint-Honoré

Puff pastry base with caramelized cream puffs and airy Chiboust cream, piped in swirling waves.

Ingredients · for 8 servings

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 625 ml whole milk
• 125 ml water
• 100 g butter
• 150 g flour
• 4 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• 320 g sugar
• 45 g cornstarch
• 4 sheets gelatin
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Roll out the puff pastry into a 24 cm circle, prick it several times, place it on a tray and bake in the oven preheated to 200°C for 15 min. until light golden and fully baked through.
2. For the choux pastry, bring the water, 125 ml of the milk, the butter and salt to a boil, stir in the flour, cook for 2 min. to dry it out, work in the eggs one at a time, then pipe about 20 cherry-sized puffs onto a tray; bake at 190°C for 22–25 min. until dry.
3. For the Chiboust cream, bring the remaining 500 ml milk to a boil, whisk the egg yolks with 120 g of the sugar and the cornstarch, stir in the milk, boil for 2 min., and dissolve the soaked gelatin into the hot cream.
4. Whip the egg whites until stiff, sprinkling in 2 tbsp of the sugar, then fold them quickly into the still-warm cream before the gelatin sets; chill the cream for 1 hr.
5. Cook the remaining sugar with 3 tbsp water into a light brown caramel, dip the tops of the puffs into it and immediately stick them in a circle onto the edge of the puff pastry base.
6. Stir the cold Chiboust cream smooth, pipe it in dense waves onto the cake, and let the Saint-Honoré chill well for at least 2 hrs. before slicing.