Gateau St. Honore
Submitted by plagan
Gateau St. Honore with a puff pastry base, caramel-dipped cream puffs, brandy-raisin chocolate mousse filling, and piped whipped cream in alternating chocolate and vanilla stripes. A showstopping French patisserie centerpiece.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
4 hrsGateau St. Honore is one of the great projects of French pastry, and this version adds a chocolate twist that makes it even more spectacular. A golden puff pastry base gets ringed with caramel-glazed cream puffs, filled with a rich chocolate mousse studded with brandy-soaked raisins, and topped with alternating stripes of plain and chocolate whipped cream piped from a pastry bag.
The chocolate filling is built like a classic mousse. Semisweet chocolate melted with butter, egg yolks whisked in while warm, then folded with stiff egg whites for lightness. The brandy-plumped raisins add pockets of boozy sweetness throughout. This needs at least 3 hours in the fridge to set properly.
Caramelizing sugar for the cream puffs demands your full attention. The sugar goes from golden to burned in seconds, and once it’s too dark the bitter taste can’t be fixed. Pull it off the heat the moment it turns amber and work fast with your fork.
Chef Tips
- Pierce the puff pastry base thoroughly with a fork and let it rest before baking. Skipping either step means it puffs up unevenly and buckles.
- Work quickly with the caramel. It hardens fast at room temperature, so have your cream puffs and buttered parchment ready before you start.
- Melt the chocolate over barely simmering water and remove immediately once smooth. Overheating seizes chocolate and ruins the texture.
- Pipe the whipped cream just before serving. It deflates over time and loses those sharp, clean stripes.
Variations
- Use dark chocolate instead of semisweet for a more intense, bittersweet filling.
- Replace brandy with rum for the raisin soak, or use Grand Marnier for an orange note.
- Skip the raisins entirely for a pure chocolate mousse center.
Ingredients
Directions
To plump raisins, heat brandy and raisins over low heat.
Set aside to soak.
Chop 9 ounces chocolate in small pieces.
Melt with butter in top of double boiler over barely simmering water.
When melted, remove immediately and whisk in egg yolks.
Add plumped raisins.
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
Fold into chocolate-raisin mixture.
Cover and chill 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
Roll puff pastry into 12-inch circle about ¼ inch thick.
Pierce with fork.
Let rest 25 minutes.
Place on baking sheet and bake at 450℉ (230℃) until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Caramelize sugar in heavy skillet until golden brown.
Do not overbrown.
Remove immediately from heat.
Using fork, quickly dip one half of each cream puff into caramel and place on buttered parchment paper.
When caramel has set, dip uncoated half in caramel.
Cool.
Place caramel-coated cream puffs around puff pastry.
Fill center with chilled chocolate filling.
Melt remaining 3 ounces chocolate.
Whip cream until soft peaks form.
Fold melted chocolate into half of whipped cream.
Set aside.
Spoon remaining half of whipped cream into pastry bag fitted with a large round tube.
Pipe dome-shaped balls in rows over chocolate filling, leaving spaces between rows.
Repeat, using chocolate whipped cream, filling in spaces between rows of white whipped cream to create stripes.
Makes one 12-inch cake
Comments