Gateau Saint Honore Recipe

This mini Gateau Saint Honore is a beautiful dessert for Mother’s Day, or for any springtime occasion like a baby or bridal shower. Gateau Saint Honore is typically made as one large dessert, but I love to make them as individual portions so that way each guest is presented with a beautiful plate. 

The History of Gateau Saint Honore

The Gateau Saint Honore is named for the patron Saint Honore, or Honoratus who died in 600 AD. It’s a long, involved story, but suffice it to say that Honore was celebrated as a Patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs. His feast day is May 16th which makes this a perfect dessert idea for spring. 

The Components

You’ll find lots of varieties of this dessert, from the traditional made with cream puffs dipped in caramel to the more exotic flavors of mango, espresso, and lavender. But the basic components remain the same.

• A base of puff pastry
• Cream Puffs filled with vanilla pastry cream (pastry cream flavors can also vary!)
• Some type of icing, caramel, or ganache on top of the cream puff
• Sweetened whipped cream surrounding the cream puffs. Which can also be a Creme Diplomat (1 part pastry cream + 1 part whipped cream) 

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Step#1: Make the Pate a Choux

The pate a choux is the dough you will need to master to create a successful cream puff. But not to worry, I’ll give my tips below! After making these for a few years, I’ve definitely learned a few things about these fickle pastries the hard way! 

Tip#1: Be Sure to Cook  the Flour

When it comes time to add the flour mixture, after simmering the water and the butter. Be sure to cook the flour long enough, until a dough forms and pulls away from the side of the pan. Then add the eggs.

If you add the eggs too soon, before the flour has had a chance to cook, it will affect the structure of your final cream puff and won’t be as stable when you go to fill them. 

Tip#2: Use a Whisk to Add the Eggs

I find a whisk works better to combine the eggs with the dough base. You’ll find as soon as you add the eggs, it’s a bit of a messy affair and you’ll wonder if it will ever come together! A whisk will help the eggs incorporate faster into the dough.

You’ll end up with a sticky, pasty mixture once it’s combined. That’s exactly what you want. 

Fixing the peaks

After piping out the choux pastry, you’ll notice you’ll have small peaks at the top left by the pastry tip. You can pat those down with the back of a metal spoon that has been dipped in cold water. You can also smooth out any cracks or mishappen edges of your pastry mounds this way too. 

Success is in the Baking

Cream puffs can be finicky! They can deflate quickly. This is the method that I have found that works best!

• Bake at 400F (200C) for 10 minutes to begin. In this stage, they will inflate and rise up.
• Reduce to 350F (175C) for 35 minutes. In this stage the will turn golden brown
• Turn the oven off. Open the oven door slightly and allow them to stay in the oven for 20 minutes. In this stage, they will dry out inside, and cool down gradually. Both will prevent deflating. 

A Hollow Cream Puff is Key

It will be a lot easier to fill your cream puffs with pastry cream if they are hollow. The more hollow the cream puffs are, the more pastry cream they will hold. 

Creating the Hole in the Cream Puff

If you baked your cream puffs for 35 minutes and allowed them to cool down properly, it will be a lot easier to create the holes at the bottom, because the shells will be crisp and the centers will be hollow.

The best way to create the hole is with a round pastry tip. Insert the tip into the bottom of the cream puff, twisting it until a hole forms. Then hollow them out a bit more with a skewer. 

Step#2: Make the Pastry Cream

The pastry cream is really easy to do and can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Just be sure to follow the steps in the recipe below and to keep the mixing whisking while cooking to avoid scorching. 

Refrigerating the Pastry Cream

Transfer the pastry cream into a heat-safe bowl immediately, then place a sheet of plastic wrap, or a plastic bag, cut open, directly onto the pastry cream, touching the surface. This will prevent it from forming a skin while it refrigerates. 

Step#3: Bake the Puff Pastry

If you really want to go for broke you could make your own puff pastry, but I’ve found there are really good store-bought puff pastry brands and it will save you a ton of time. I’d recommend Pepperidge Farm, Wewalka or Trader Joe’s puff pastry. Since this dessert is a bit labor-intensive you’ll welcome the shortcut. 

Baking the Puff Pastry

First, be sure to prick the dough with a fork before baking. Since the puff pastry is being used as a base for our dessert, you don’t want it to puff up too much. To prevent this, place another sheet of parchment paper on top, and then a second sheet pan on top as well. This will allow the pastry to bake without rising up, yet still preserving its flakey texture. 

Allow the puff pastry to cool completely before assembling the dessert. You can bake the puff pastry at room temperature for a few hours before assembling the dessert. But I find it’s best to bake it the day you plan to serve it. 

Step#4: Make the Raspberry Icing

These desserts are beautiful with the bright raspberry icing and the tart flavor of the raspberries pairs so well with the sweetness of the vanilla pastry cream and sweetened whipped cream. The icing is easy to do since it only involves pressing fresh raspberries through a sieve to extract 1 tablespoon of juice and then mixing the juice with powdered sugar. 

The icing does dry to a hard, smooth finish so it’s best to make the icing right before you plan to dip the cream puffs. 

Step#5: Assembling the Dessert

First, fill the cream puffs with the pastry cream until it’s flush with the shell. Then stage them on your sheet pan. This part could also be done a day ahead and refrigerated. Then all you would have to do is bake the puff pastry and assemble the desserts the next day. 

Dipping the Cream Puffs

Dip the cream puffs in the icing halfway so that only the tops of the cream puff will be iced. Then hold the cream puff over the bowl to allow the icing to drip down into the bowl. This will prevent the icing from dripping down over the cream puff once you flip it right-side up. 

Adding Pistachios

I think it’s nice to add a little texture and color on top of the iced cream puffs, and chopped raw pistachios work well for this. In fact, if you wanted to fill the cream puffs with a pistachio pastry cream that would be wonderful too! Just follow my recipe for pistachio pastry cream in my Strawberry Pistachio Tart Recipe. 

The combination of pink and green is so beautiful for a spring dessert and the flavor of the pistachios pairs really well with the raspberry too. 

Affixing the Cream Puffs

The cream puffs should be “glued down” to the puff pastry to avoid sliding off. Pipe a little mound of the pastry cream and rest the cream puff on top. I place 3 cream puffs, in a triangle pattern on each puff pastry round. 

Pipe small mounds of the whipped cream to fill in the gaps, as well as a nice pretty mound on top, for the garnishes. 

Adding Garnishes

A really beautiful garnish for these pretty desserts is a candied petal. I found a source on Amazon that sells Candied Rose Petals and Candied Violets. (This link goes to Amazon where I am compensated on products sold at no cost to the consumer)

If you have leftover you can also drop these candied petals into a glass of champagne! They add a beautiful rose flavor and slightly pink color. They make for a beautiful conversation piece at a brunch. 

Serving Tips:

You can assemble the dessert up to 4 hours ahead of time (leaving off the candied petal and raspberry)  and place them in the refrigerator. Then right before serving add the candied rose petal and raspberry. The candied petals have a tendency of running into the whipped cream if left in the refrigerator for too long. 

More Wonderful French Desserts!

• Mastering the French Macaron
• Lavender Creme Brulee
• Foolproof Madeleines
• Canele Recipe
• Chocolate Souffle

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