What a royal and sophisticated pastry for special events. This is personally my favorite french pastry. This melting pot of textures is definitely a perfect combo for cream lovers.
Before diving into the recipe, let me warn you about how technical it is to bake a Saint-Honoré. Inverted puff pastry is the most technical recipe you have to master when you make a Saint-Honoré because it requires time and precision. The texture of the dough and the butter are the key point for a crispy and layered base. Choux and custard cream are technical but way easier to master, it’s all about humidity and balance of water.
Now that you are fully aware of how to comprehend the different elements of this pastry, let’s jump into the recipe :
This recipe is for 5-6 people
Time required : 1h20 min
Baking time : 35 min
Resting time : 3 h
DIRECTIONS
Puff pastry :
280 g butter (1)
110 g flour (1)
106 g water
2 g white vinegar
7 g salt
85 g butter (2)
263 g flour (2)
Mix soft butter (1) with flour (1).
Spread the mixture in a plastic film. Make sure the butter has a rectangular shape with an even thickness. Keep it in the fridge until use.
In a mixing bowl, pour the water, vinegar and salt. Add soft butter (2), flour (2) and mix with a spatula. Knead the dough until it forms a ball.
Film the dough in a rectangular shape (like the butter) and let the dough chill in the fridge for 1h.
After 1h of resting time, roll out the butter so that it is twice as big as the dough.
Form a ‘sandwich’ with one layer of butter on top, one layer of dough in mid, and the second layer of butter at the bottom. The dough should be completely covered by butter. This is what we call an inverted puff pastry.
Check the texture of the butter and the dough, they must have the same consistency. Sprinkle flour on the work surface to prevent the dough from sticking to it.
Roll out the dough into a long rectangle shape to a thickness of 7mm.
Close one end on itself (at three-quarter length) and then fold the other end back to the same level (closing like a book). You made the 1st turn.
Film the dough and keep it in your fridge for 30min. Repeat this turning process 3 times.
Roll out the puff pastry to a thickness of 5 mm. Cut a circle using your mould for the base of your Saint-Honoré.
Keep your puff pastry in the freezer until use. Take the dough out of the freezer 10 minutes before baking so that it thaws slightly.
Bake the inverted puff pastry for 15 min at 180°C/356°F
Sieve icing sugar on top of the puff pastry, and caramelize the base for 5 min at 180°C/356°F
Choux :
65 g milk
65 g water
55 g butter
7 g brown sugar
2 g salt
75 g flour
2,5 eggs
250 g liquid cream (30% fat)
8,5 g icing sugar
100 g sugar
40 g water
In a saucepan, pour the milk and watter, then add the butter, salt and brown sugar.
Heat everything over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Once the butter is well melted, bring it to a boil, then add, off the heat, and in one go, the sifted flour.
Mix well until a homogeneous dough is obtained.
Dry it in a saucepan, over low heat, for 2 min, without ever stopping stirring the dough. The purpose is not to cook the dough but to dry it out, otherwise the batter will be too liquid and soft. The dough is dried out when it forms a ball and there is almost no steam left when it is crushed. Remove the pan from the heat.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl, then pour gradually, in a drizzle, over the dough. Mix the dough.
The batter has a good texture when you run your finger through it and the track closes gently after passing. The texture of the batter can be compared to a ribbon.
Fill a piping bag. I recommend putting your piping bag in a deep container, so you can easily pour the batter in it. Let the dough in the fridge for 30 min.
On a parchment paper, pipe the choux in small balls of 2cm diameter. Be careful, the shape should be regular. I recommend you cleaning your shapes with a wet finger.
Bake the choux at 180°C/356°F, for about 15 minutes (with rotating heat). At the end of baking, let the choux pastry dry at 140°C/284°F for 2 min. Let your choux cold out of the oven.
Make a caramel with the sugar and water. Don’t cook it at high heat, otherwise your caramel will burn quickly. Keep the caramel at medium heat until it turns slightly brown.
Drop the top of your choux in the caramel (using a toothpick) and put your choux on a silicon mould so the caramel will cover the choux evenly. When the caramel is cold, you can remove the choux from the mould.
Pastry cream:
335 g milk
37 g liquid cream (30% fat)
½ vanilla pod
65 g brown sugar
3 egg yolks
18 g cornstarch
18 g flour
35 g butter
Boil the milk and liquid cream in a saucepan with the vanilla pod.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl: mix the egg yolks with the sugar.
Add the cornstarch and flour; continue to mix. The whole mixture should be a homogeneous batter.
When the milk boils, pour it into the mixture (egg + sugar + corn starch + flour). Whisk it so that the mixture is homogeneous.
Transfer the mixture into the saucepan and cook over low heat until the mixture thickens. Be careful not to stop mixing with a whisk, otherwise, the cream may be grainy.
Once the cream thickens, let the pan heat (while stirring) for 2 minutes to ensure that cornstarch and flour cook completely.
Add the cold butter. Whisk until the cream is homogeneous.
Pour the cream into a bowl and cover the cream with plastic wrap on contact.
Keep the cream in the fridge until ready to use. (30 min to 1 h)
Pour the cream in a piping bag to fill the choux (using a filling pipe)
Whipped cream :
250 g liquid cream (30% fat)
1/2 vanilla pod
Place the liquid cream in the fridge for one night to use it as cold as possible.
Pour your cold liquid cream in a cold mixing bowl. Add the seeds from the vanilla pod. Whip the cream with an electrical whisk at very high speed. The cream should be very thick so you can pipe it easily.
Fill a piping bag with the cream (with a Saint-Honoré pipe). Place it in your fridge for at least 30 min.
Assembling:
Pipe the custard cream in the middle of your base (inverted puff pastry). Cover the full surface, but let the edges empty to put the choux pastry.
Place the choux all around the base.
Pipe the whipped cream with elongated shapes forming kinda a flower.
Put a last choux in the middle of your piping.
Now that you know how to make a Saint-Honoré, please tag me on Instagram to show me your creation (@theparisbest_baking). I would be so glad to give you my feedback and share it with the community !
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Lea from The Paris-Best