The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Saint Honoré

Janedo's picture
Janedo

Saint Honoré

Hello! How about a bit of french pastry?

I have been working in a bakery in the South of France, doing their line of pastries and goodies. The challenge has been the actual baking because I have to bake everything in a huge deck oven. It was quite daunting at first as I have always had a proper convection oven wherever I have worked. But, it is actually all right. I have been doing some tests with choux pastry lately because everything becomes enormous in that deck oven!! So, yesterday, while I was off, I made some choux pastry to test.... convention on, convection off, directly on the stone, in the middle, etc. I decided to make a Saint Honoré because it is is yummy and pretty, and I hadn't made one in ages. This type of piping is all the rage here in France these days. The base is a flattened puff pastry. I made a "princess vanilla cream", which is a vanilla pastry cream with some gelatin and butter that is cooled to room temp and then has some whipped cream folded in to it and then cooled. It becomes lighter and moussy and can be piped easily. The piped cream is a slightly sweeted (powdered sugar), vanilla mascarpone whipped cream. The choux are filled with the princess pastry cream. I had some friends over for tea and that distracted me and I glued the choux, forgetting to dip them in the caramel first. Oops! So I just drizzled the caramel on top. It sounds complicated, but it is pretty straight forwards and always a crown pleaser.

 

Comments

kendalm's picture
kendalm

I will eat it with reckless abandon but in this case, its so beautiful visually I might have to pass.  This is incredible and congrats on the deck oven version.  I think choux should replace the apple pie here so we can use an expression like 'as amaerican as profiterol' 

Janedo's picture
Janedo

Thanks! I used to be quite frightened about making choux because there are so many things that can go wrong. But it is an incredible dough.

Benito's picture
Benito

Wow Jane, that is gorgeous.  I’ve never tried to make choux and I guess someday I’ll try my hand at it, but yours is superb.

Janedo's picture
Janedo

Thanks! Try it! You'd be surprised at how easy it is once you get the hang of it.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Completely off topic but certainly noteworthy.

It was her visit to M. Bouabsa's Paris boulangerie that spurred she and David Snyder to collaborate on reproducing the Bouabsa baguette formula here on TFL.  She may/may not fully know it, but that has spawned "a thousand" old and new bakers to become dedicated aficionados of the Bouabsa Baguette. 

Janedo's picture
Janedo

How time flies! I find it extraordinary that my current professional situation brings me back to Anis and his baguette. My daughter lives in Paris and as soon as I get a chance, I’ll go for a visit and head up to his bakery to see what’s up. That baguette is fantastic!!

tuziksmith's picture
tuziksmith

So beautiful! Would it be to much to ask for the recipe? Would love to try it too?.

Kistida's picture
Kistida

That looks like something you can’t stop eating once you start! ??