Chocolate and Caramel Saint Honore

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I love Saint Honore – it’s definitely one of my top favorite French desserts. Saint Honore is traditionally made with puff pastry filled with vanilla pastry cream, caramel dipped cream puffs and whipped cream. It’s one of the most common desserts you can find in any French patisserie.

As a baker, I like to bake things with all kinds of different flavors and textures, and this is how this recipes was thought of. It’s a chocolate and caramel Saint Honore that’s taking the classic to a different level. It’s made of short crust pastry filled with chocolate cream, caramel dipped cream puffs and whipped cream. This Saint Honore is very festive and takes quite a ling time to prepare, but it will make everyone who taste it say WOW for sure.

Chocolate and Caramel Saint Honore

Photo: Natalie Levin



Chocolate and Caramel Saint Honore

For the crust:

  • 150 grams all-purpose flour
  • 100 grams cold butter cut into cubes
  • 50 grams sugar powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2-3 tbsp. cold water

For the cream puffs:

  • 125 ml. milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • 30 grams sugar
  • 50 grams butter
  • 70 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1-2 beaten eggs

For chocolate cream:

  • 500 ml. milk
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 140 grams sugar
  • 50 grams cornstarch
  • 100 grams chopped dark chocolate
  • 125 ml. heavy cream

For caramel:

  • 200 grams sugar
  • 15 grams glucose or corn syrup
  • Pinch of salt

For cream:

  • 125 ml. heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp. dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. instant coffee powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cream stabilizer of instant vanilla pudding mix

Crust:

  1. In a food processor with a steel blade put flour, butter, sugar powder, salt and vanilla and blend until mixture is crumbly.
  2. Gradually add water and continue to blend just until large chunks of dough form.
  3. Transfer the dough to a work surface, and form a disc shape.
  4. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.
  5. On a floured surface roll out the dough about 3-4 mm thick and cut out a circle about 24-26 cm in diameter.
  6. Place the circle on the oven pan lined with baking paper and pierce with a fork.
  7. Cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
  8. Preheat oven to 170c degrees.
  9. Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
  10. Cool completely before assembly.

Cream puffs:

  1. Preheat oven to 180c degrees.
  2. in a medium saucepan put milk, sugar, butter and salt and heat to a strong boil.
  3. Add flour and stir while cooking, until it turns into a lump of dough.
  4. Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until it cools down a little.
  5. Add the eggs gradually while beating until dough is elastic and smooth. Check the readiness of dough by creating a “trail” with a wooden spoon in the center of the dough – if the track remains stable, add some eggs, and if it closes a bit – the dough is ready. It is important not to add too many eggs to the dough or it may become too soft and ruined.
  6. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a round 2 cm piping tip. On a baking tray lined with baking paper pipe small cream puffs (about 3-4 cm in diameter). It’s important to leave some space between the cream puffs.
  7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until completely golden and fully baked.
  8. Cool completely before filling.
  9. Make a small hole at the bottom of each cream puff.

Chocolate cream:

  1. In a small saucepan put milk, vanilla and salt and heat to simmering point.
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch.
  3. Add about 1/3 of the milk mixture into the eggs while whisking, to compare temperatures.
  4. Add the remaining milk and mix well. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook on medium heat while whisking constantly until a very thick pastry cream is formed.
  5. Remove from heat and add in chopped chocolate. Beat well until completely melted and smooth.
  6. Transfer the cream into a flat container, and cover the surface with plastic wrap (in order to avoid crust formation).
  7. Cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, until it is completely cold.
  8. Transfer the cold cream into a bowl and whisk manually to make it creamy again after setting.
  9. In a mixer bowl whip cream to stiff peaks.
  10. Fold the cream into the chocolate cream until incorporated and smooth.
  11. Transfer the cream into a piping bag fitted with 1 cm round piping tip.
  12. Fill the cream puffs. Keep the remaining cream in the pastry bag in the refrigerator.

Caramel:

  1. In a small saucepan put sugar and glucose (or corn syrup) and form a caramel. When the caramel is ready add salt and stir.
  2. Carefully dip the top of each cream puff and immediately turn over (caramel side down) on a parchment paper to set.

Cream:

  1. In a bowl of a mixer whip cream, dark brown sugar, cream stabilizer and coffee until stable and creamy.
  2. Transfer the whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with Saint Honore piping tip.

Assemble the cake:

  1. Place the crust on a serving plate.
  2. Drizzle little dots of chocolate cream on the sides in order to “glue” the cream puffs.
  3. Place the caramel-dipped cream puffs on the sides of the crust.
  4. In between the cream puffs and in the center of the cake, drizzle about 1/2 of what’s left of the chocolate cream.
  5. Place a few more cream puffs in the center of the cake (over the cream)
  6. Drizzle cream in between the cream puffs and the remaining chocolate cream in the center.
  • Keep the Saint Honore cake in the refrigerator up to two days, but it’s at its best on day of preparation.

Chocolate and Caramel Saint Honore

Photo: Natalie Levin