Mini Gateau St Honore

While I was in Queenstown a few weekends ago, I tired a mini Gateau St Honere at the local french restaurant and have had a little bit of an obsession since!! Although i have seen many gateau st honere before, I only was really interested in making one once I had tried it. The simple puff pastry, custard filled profiteroles, crunchy toffee and chantilly cream all taste so incredible together and they are surprisingly not to rich and heavy. 

Mini Gateau St Honore 

Profiteroles 

recipe from Annabel Langbein

½ cup water

4 tbsp butter (60g), diced

3/4 cup plain flour, sifted

1 dessertspoon sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 200C/400F fan bake.

Place the water and butter in a medium pot and heat to a rolling boil. Once the butter is fully melted, add the flour all at once and beat over the heat with a wooden spoon until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan and starts to crust a little on the base of the pan. This should take about 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and transfer the batter to a cake mixer or large mixing bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and beat for 20 seconds before beating in the eggs one at a time. The mixture should be thick enough to drop from the spoon in clumps, rather than falling freely.

Pipe small rounds of the batter, about the width of a 50 c coin, 1 and a half inches apart onto a lined baking tray. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes or until the puffs looks golden and sounds hollow when tapped. Turn off the oven, but leave the puff to sit inside for another 15 minutes to help them dry out. 

Puff Pastry Rounds

2 sheets store brought and ready rolled ( I used edmonds) butter puff pastry

2 tbsp butter, melted

2 tbsp icing sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 200C

Cut out eight 8cm round circles and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Brush each pastry round generously with melted butter and dust with icing sugar. Prick generously all over with a fork and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes or untill golden brown on top. If your rounds have puffed up a little too much, press them down slightly as soon as they come out of the oven. set aside to cool.

Toffee

1 1/2 cups castor sugar

Get your puff pastry rounds and profiteroles out and ready to dip in the hot toffee. 

Place the sugar in a medium-large sauce pan and heat over a medium-high heat untill the sugar has melted and turned a dark amber colour. 

Immediately dip the tops of the profiteroles and puff pastry rounds in the in the hot toffee and leave to set until hardened. If your toffee sets too firm before you have finished dipped all of the pastries, just re-heat until melted again. 

Creme Patisserie

Adapted form Laduree

1/2 Vanilla Bean *I used 1 Tbsp Vanilla Paste

200 mLWhole Milk

2 Egg Yolks

40g Castor Sugar

15g Cornstarch

1/2 tablespoon Butter 

Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds. Pour the milk in a saucepan and add the vanilla pod and seeds *or vanilla paste.  Bring to a simmer.  Remove from heat, and cover immediately.  Allow to infuse for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolk and sugar until slightly pale.  Incorporate the cornstarch.

Remove the vanilla pod from the milk, and bring to a simmer.  Pour 1/3 of the milk over the egg yolk mixture (to temper the egg yolks) , and whisk together.  Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan.  Bring to a boil while stirring constantly with a whisk, until thickened.

Remove the creme patisserie from the heat and pour into a clean bowl.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes, and then incorporate the butter.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool and set.

Chantilly Cream

250 mL cream

1/2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a bowl and whip until peaks hold their shape. Place most of the cream, reserving about 3 tbsp, in a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle. set aside. 

Assembly

Mix together the remaining chantilly cream with the creme patisserie. Place into a piping bag fitted with filling nozzle. Pipe the creme patisserie into the profiteroles and place 3 filled profiteroles on top of each toffee coated puff pastry round. Pipe over the chantilly cream in between each profiterole and finish is off with a swirl right in the middle. Place another filled profiterole on top of the cream in the middle and garhish with toppings of your choice (I used edible flowers) repeat with the remaining.