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Gateau St. Honore

This was my friend Betty’s mom and dad’s favorite dessert. A classic French cream puff shell dessert filled with a vanilla pastry cream and surrounded with baby cream puffs and drizzled with caramelized sugar. Jack and Helen were two of the nicest and most generous people you could ever know. When we were together there was nothing but laughter and certainly lots of good food. You couldn’t dream or write of a more hysterical scene than watching us play a round of Scattegories or Boggle – we would laugh so hard that tears actually rolled down everyone’s faces. They will forever be deeply missed and remembered.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Chilling and Cooling Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

Dough (Pâte à Choux)

  • 2 sticks Butter
  • 2 cups Water
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 cups Flour
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Pastry Cream

  • 2 cups Chilled Crème Anglais
  • 2 cups Whipped Cream (prepared separately)

Caramelized Sugar

  • 1 cup Sugar
  • ¼ cup Water
  • 1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Instructions
 

Dough (Pâte à Choux)

  • In saucepan bring Butter, Water and Salt to a boil.
  • Add flour and whisk until dough is formed.
  • Remove from heat and beat in Eggs (quickly but one at a time) and Pure Vanilla Extract.
  • Dough should be shiny and a little sticky. Place dough in pastry bag fitted with large star tip. On parchment paper make a 9-inch wide disk. Start at the center and in circular motion make the disk larger and larger until you reach a 9-inch diameter. Then pipe a 1-inch border around the disk. Then form about 20 small puffs. Bake these puff pastry forms in 400℉ oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden. Let them cool.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

  • Blend together Crème Anglais and Whipped Cream. Beat to stiff peak state - careful not to over beat and make butter.
  • Chill pastry cream for one hour before use.

Caramelized Sugar

  • While cream is setting make Caramelized Sugar. In saucepan caramelize Sugar, Water and Lemon Juice. Cook sugar on low heat until a thick caramel colored sauce is achieved.

Assemble

  • Fill 9-inch disk with ½ of the pastry cream. Fill cream puffs with pastry cream. Dip just the top of the cream puffs in the caramelized sugar. Use the pastry cream as glue and adhere the cream puffs to the rim of the disk and fill the disk with any leftover pastry cream.
  • Drizzle the finished cake with a web of caramelized sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 
Keyword Caramelized Sugar, Cream, Cream Puff, Gateau St. Honore, Pastry, Vanilla