Saint-Honoré

Preheat the oven

• 1 Begin preheating the oven to 200°C.
• 2 Line a baking tray with parchment.

Boil the choux ingredients

• 1 Put 65 ml water, 65 ml milk, 55 g choux butter, 1.5 g choux salt and 3 g choux sugar in a saucepan over medium heat; turn off once the butter is completely melted and the mixture boils.

Cook the choux dough

• 1 Add all 70 g choux flour at once and mix quickly with a wooden spoon.
• 2 Return to low heat and work for 1–2 minutes until the dough pulls away from the bottom into a single mass.

Add eggs to finish the dough

• 1 Transfer to a bowl and stir for 2–3 minutes to cool slightly.
• 2 Add the 2 beaten choux eggs in 3–4 additions, mixing well each time.

Pipe the choux

• 1 Fill a piping bag fitted with a 10 mm round nozzle and pipe 12 small balls about 3 cm across onto the tray.

Bake the small choux

• 1 Bake at 200°C for 22–25 minutes.
• 2 Do not open the oven during baking.

Cool the choux

• 1 Cool completely on a rack.

Prepare gelatin and vanilla

• 1 MeanwhileWhile the choux cool, soak 5 g sheet gelatin in cold water.
• 2 Split 1/2 vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out its seeds.

Heat the vanilla milk

• 1 Put 250 ml pastry-cream milk with vanilla seeds and pod in a saucepan over medium heat; heat just below boiling and turn off.

Beat yolks and sugar

• 1 Beat 3 egg yolks with 60 g pastry-cream sugar in a bowl until pale and thick.
• 2 Sift in 25 g cornstarch and mix.

Cook the pastry cream

• 1 Gradually strain in the warm milk while mixing.
• 2 Return to the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly.
• 3 Once thickened and bubbling, continue stirring for about 1 minute, then turn off.
• 4 Squeeze the gelatin dry and stir it in to dissolve.

Chill the pastry cream

• 1 Spread in a tray, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Make the syrup

• 1 Heat 70 g meringue-syrup sugar and 20 ml water in a small saucepan over medium heat to 118°C. Without a thermometer, look for large slow bubbles at the sides and a syrup that forms threads from a spoon.

Whip the whites

• 1 MeanwhileWhile reducing the syrup, start whipping 2 egg whites in another bowl so a firm white foam is ready when the syrup is done.

Make Italian meringue

• 1 Pour the hot syrup into the whipped whites in a thin stream while continuing to beat.

Make crème Chiboust

• 1 Loosen the chilled pastry cream with a spatula until smooth.
• 2 Mix in 1/3 of the Italian meringue thoroughly, then fold in the remainder in 2 additions with broad strokes until no white streaks remain.
• 3 This makes crème Chiboust, a light custard cream combined with meringue.

Shape the puff-pastry base

• 1 Cut 1 puff-pastry sheet into an 18 cm circle and prick all over with a fork.

Bake the puff pastry

• 1 Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes; remove when lightly golden and cool.

Make the finishing caramel

• 1 Heat 80 g caramel sugar and 25 ml water in a small saucepan over medium heat without stirring.
• 2 Turn off when uniformly deep amber.

Attach the choux to the base

• 1 Dip the bottoms of the 12 cooled choux shallowly into caramel and attach them close together in 1 complete ring around the edge of the cooled puff pastry.

Pipe crème Chiboust

• 1 Put the crème Chiboust in a bag fitted with a Saint-Honoré or star nozzle and pipe inside the choux ring in a spiral toward the center.

Chill to set the cream

• 1 Refrigerate for 30 minutes to settle the cream before slicing.