What's Cookin'? with AHA: Gateau St. Honore

THEY are golden, round and small yet overly creamy, crispy and sweet. These flavors best describe the cream puffs, which are delectable desserts especially this holiday season. Instead of the usual chocolates, cakes and ice cream for your palettes, try serving a cream puff cake, also known as Gâteau St. Honoré. Gateau St. Honore got its name from the patron saint of bakers, Saint Honoratus or Saint Honoré who was a bishop in France. According to food timeline, the procedures done in making the Gâteau St. Honoré dates back 17th Century because choux and cream were often used during this time. If you want to serve this dessert for your Noche Buena, then list down the ingredients below and watch the video of Chef Bong Ignacio of American Hospitality Academy for the demonstration. For the puff pastry base (1-8 inch disc), you will need the following: 1. Cake Flour 454 g 2. Bread Flour 454 g 3. Butter, cubed and chilled 907 g 4. salt 21 g 5. water, cold 540 ml For the pate choux, you will need the following: 1. Water 453 g 2. Salt 1 tsp 3. Sugar 1 tsp 4. Butter 170 g 5. Flour 284 g 6. Egg 6-8 pcs For the flavored pastry cream filling, you will need the following: 1. milk 480 ml 2. sugar 99 g 3. a pinch of salt 4. cornstarch 35 g 5. eggs 170 g 6. vanilla extract 7 ml 7. butter 28 g Steps in preparing the puff pastry base: 1. In a bowl combine both flours and butter, toss with your fingertips until butter is well coated with flour. Combine the salt & water and add to the flour all at once and combine using your hands until it just form a ball. 2. Tightly cover the mixture with plastic wrap & allow to rest under refrigeration until butter is firm but not brittle, about 20 minutes. 3. Roll on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1cm thick. Administer a three-fold. Wrap tightly with plastic and chill for 30 minutes. Repeat process 5 more times. Chill until needed. 4. Take out the chilled dough and roll to an 8 inch disc. 5. Use a bowl to shape dough to a perfect circle 6. Put a dough in a sheet pan 7. Chill the dough for 4-5 mins. Steps in preparing the pate choux for the cream puff: 1. In a saucepan, combine water and butter. Then add salt and sugar. 2. Add flour all at once and cook. 3. Stir with a wooden spatula until trace of starch forms. Note: The mixture is almost ready when it starts pulling away from the pan. 4. Transfer to a mixer fitted with a paddle & mix on low till cool. 5. Gradually add eggs Note: For cream puff to be crunchy, dry and crispy, water is used instead of milk. Steps in preparing puff pastry base for baking: 1. Dock the puff pastry base so as to prevent it from over puffing 2. Put the pate choux on the puff pastry base following its shape. 3. Make a small circle in the middle of the puff pastry base 4. Bake in 375˚F until nice and golden brown Steps in baking the cream puff dough: 1. Create 8 pcs. of cream puffs to be placed on top of the puff pastry base 2. Bake in 375˚F until nice and golden brown Steps in preparing the flavored pastry filling for the cream puffs: 1. Combine 2/3 of the milk and 2/3 of the sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. In a bowl, combine the cornstarch with the remaining milk and whisk. 2. Temper the egg mixture by adding 1/3 of the hot milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return the mixture to the remaining hot milk in the saucepan. Continue cooking, stirring vigorously until the pastry cream comes to a boil. 3. Stir in the vanilla and butter. Immediately pour over a large shallow container, cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the cream and cool over an ice bath. Steps in preparing the final Gâteau St. Honoré: 1. Now, you’re ready to fill the cream into the cream puffs. Use a knife to poke a hole at the bottom of the cream puffs. 2. Fill the cream puffs with the flavored pastry cream. 3. Dip the cream puffs into caramelized sugar. 4. Attach the cream puffs to the puff pastry base. 5. Add cream to puff pastry base 6. To décor the cake, add sweetened whip cream on top of the pastry cream.