Gâteau St Honoré

I never understood why croquembouches had become so fashionable until I attempted to make one – I managed to dip the first choux bun in caramel without incident then promptly coated my little finger in caramel on the second. This led to much screaming and swearing and some very impressive burns so I quickly gave up on the idea of making a croquembouche and ate the two caramel covered choux buns to cheer myself up. There is something about the crunch of the caramel when combined with the crème patissière and choux pastry that almost, almost made up for the third degree burns.



Gâteau St Honoré has all the deliciousness of a croquembouche with a lower risk of injury – and what more could you ask for in a dessert? You only need to dip the choux buns in one side at a time and even if they are not very thickly coated they should still form a perfectly stable construction as the Gâteau St Honoré is less vertical than the cone shaped croquembouche.



This is my version of a Gâteau St Honoré flavoured with orange which goes surprisingly well with the caramel and adds a freshness that makes this dessert even easier to eat in large quantities. I’m not sure about the candied orange as decoration here; it looks a little too retro to my tastes, and I’ll be leaving it at a simple layer of crème chantilly next time.

You can make the different components of this the night before, then you just need to make the caramel, pipe the crème patissière into the choux buns and assemble.



Things I have learnt from making Gâteau St Honoré:

Dont pipe the choux buns onto the same tray as the base (as I have done here!). The choux buns will cook more quickly than the base so you need to be able to take them out sooner.

When dipping the choux buns in caramel do not twist them round to prevent caramel dripping on your work surface. You are very likely to end up with caramel stuck to your fingers and it will hurt A LOT. Keep the baking tray close to the saucepan and work quickly to keep mess to a minimum.

Once the buns are dipped in caramel do not put them on a tray lined with greaseproof paper as they will stick and your beautiful shiny tops will have a layer of paper stuck to them – only baking parchment will do for this job.



Gâteau St Honoré à l’orange: serves 8-10
(adapted from various sources but I found Joe Pastry’s step by step instructions very helpful and the candied oranges recipe is from David Lebovitz)

200g puff pastry

For the orange crème patissière:
3 large free range eggs
115g caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornflour
zest of 1 medium orange
100ml double cream
300ml milk

For the choux pastry:
4 egg batch of choux pastry

For the candied oranges (optional):
1 medium orange
160ml caster sugar
130ml water

For the caramel:
225g caster sugar

For the crème chantilly:
300ml double cream
1 tablespoon of icing sugar
¼ tsp of vanilla extract

First make the crème patissiere

• Put the eggs, sugar, cornflour and orange zest into a mixing bowl and beat with whisk until well combined
• Heat the milk and cream in a saucepan until you begin to see steam rising from the surface
• Pour the warm liquid onto the egg mixture whilst whisking constantly with a balloon whisk to prevent it turning into scrambled eggs
• Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and continue to heat, stirring all the time
• When the mixture has become very thick pour it into a bowl, covering the surface with a piece of clingfilm and set aside to cool fully whilst you make the choux pastry

Next make the choux pastry

• Make the choux pastry as per the instructions in the basic choux pastry recipe
• Transfer the dough to a piping bag with a plain nozzle and and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes whilst you pre-heat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with greased parchment
• Roll out the puff pastry then cut out a large circle using a knife to cut around a dinner plate. Prick the surface of the puff pastry with a fork and transfer to a baking tray
• Pipe 16 round shapes onto greased baking parchment onto another baking tra
• Pipe a line of choux pastry around the edge of the puff pastry, it should be 5mm in from the sides as the choux pastry will expand a lot in the oven
• Pipe a spiral of choux pastry inside the previous line of puff pastry. It should expand to form a flattish base
• Bake for around 30-35 minutes until the choux buns are very crisp and golden 
• Take the tray of choux buns out of the oven but leave the base in for a further 15 minutes until it is also very crisp
• Switch the oven off and leave the base and choux buns to cool in the oven with the door left ajar

For the candied orange slices (optional):

• Slice the orange into thin rounds a few millimetres thick
• Place in a saucepan with just enough water to cover then bring to the boil over a medium heat
• Allow the orange slices to simmer for about 10 minutes then drain and add the sugar and 130ml water
• Simmer for a further 10 minutes, or until the liquid reduces down to a syrup
• Leave to cool before using the slices to decorate the top of the gateau

To assemble the Gâteau St Honoré

• Place the choux buns on the base to work out how many will fit around the edge, you may not need all of them and this way you only fill the number you need, depending on how large you piped them, how much they expanded in the oven etc.
• Make a small incision in the base of each of the choux buns you are going to use with a sharp knife
• Prepare a piping bag with a 0.5cm plain nozzle and fill with 3/4 of the crème pâtissière
• Pipe the filling into each of the choux buns and set aside whilst you make the caramel
• Heat the sugar for the caramel in a pan until it is a deep golden brown
• Take the pan off the heat and then dip the tops of each choux bun into the caramel, keeping your fingers well out of the way
• Place each choux bun upside down on a lined baking sheet leaning them against the sides to prevent them falling over. This creates the traditional flat top on the caramel
• If the caramel in the pan solidifies too much, return it to the heat for about 30 seconds to get it back to the right consistency
• Once all the tops are done, begin dipping the bases of the choux buns in the caramel and placing around the edge of the base
• Leave the caramel to cool and set fully whilst you make the crème chantilly
• Whip the cream with the sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract to a good piping consistency
• Prepare a piping bag with a wide star shaped nozzle and fill with the crème chantilly
• Pour the remaining half of the crème patissiere into the base and smooth over with the back of a spoon
• Pipe the crème chantilly on the top and finish with the slices of candied orange

Either serve straight away or place in the fridge for a maximum 6 hours before serving