Gâteau Saint-Honoré — a crown of caramel choux on crisp pastry

i. Origin & history

The cake was created in Paris in the mid-1840s at the pastry shop of a pâtissier named Chiboust, on the rue Saint-Honoré. The pastry chef usually credited with devising it is Auguste Julien, who worked for Chiboust, and the cream used to fill it — a pastry cream lightened with meringue — has carried Chiboust's name ever since. The name of the cake did double duty: it honoured both the street on which the shop stood and Saint Honoré (Honoratus), a sixth-century bishop of Amiens who became the patron saint of bakers and pastry cooks. His feast day, 16 May, is still marked by French bakers.

The original Saint-Honoré was rather different from the modern cake. It is said to have been built on a base of brioche dough, with the choux buns arranged on top and the centre filled with the new cream. Within a few decades pastry chefs had replaced the brioche with puff pastry or pâte brisée, which stayed crisp under the cream, and that is the structure that has lasted.

In terms of French pastry categories, the Saint-Honoré is a gâteau or entremets of the choux pastry family, alongside the Paris-Brest, the religieuse, profiteroles and the croquembouche. It was a fixture of grand pâtisserie windows from the late nineteenth century, a cake for Sunday lunches, christenings and celebrations.

Modern Parisian pâtissiers have made it a favourite for reinvention. Many now replace the chiboust with a vanilla pastry cream or crème diplomate, pipe Chantilly cream on top with the special V-cut "Saint-Honoré" nozzle, and add fruit, caramel cream or chocolate. The ring of caramel-glazed choux buns remains the defining feature.

ii. Three pastries, one caramel: what holds it together

The Saint-Honoré combines several foundation techniques of French pastry, and each does a specific job. The puff pastry base provides a crisp, flaky platform that will not go soggy under cream. It is pricked thoroughly (docked) so it puffs only a little and stays flat, and the ring of choux paste piped around its edge bakes on and becomes a low wall to hold the filling.

The choux pastry works by steam. Flour cooked into boiling water and butter forms a thick paste; eggs beaten in turn it into a glossy, pipeable dough. In the oven, water in the dough turns to steam and puffs the buns hollow, while the eggs set the walls around the air. Choux must be baked until deep golden and fully dry, or it collapses when it cools and turns soft under the filling.

The caramel is the glue. Sugar cooked to a pale amber — about 160–170 °C — sets hard and glassy as it cools. The tops of the filled buns are dipped in it, giving them a crackling shell, and the buns are fixed onto the choux ring with a dab of the same caramel. A few drops of lemon juice or glucose help stop the sugar crystallising.

Crème chiboust is pastry cream folded with Italian meringue (egg whites whipped with hot sugar syrup), stabilised with a little gelatine. The result is far lighter than plain pastry cream but still rich with vanilla and egg yolk, and it holds a piped shape. Because it contains gelatine, it must be used while still soft; once set, it cannot be piped smoothly.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 10 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 250 g all-butter puff pastry
• 60 ml water, for the choux
• 60 ml whole milk, for the choux
• 50 g unsalted butter, for the choux
• 1 tsp caster sugar, for the choux
• 1 pinch salt
• 75 g plain flour
• 2 eggs, beaten, plus 1 for glazing
• 350 ml whole milk, for the cream
• 1 vanilla pod, split
• 4 egg yolks
• 60 g caster sugar, for the cream
• 30 g cornflour
• 4 g leaf gelatine (2 sheets), soaked in cold water
• 3 egg whites
• 120 g caster sugar, for the meringue
• 40 ml water, for the meringue
• 200 g caster sugar, for the caramel
• 60 ml water, for the caramel
• ½ tsp lemon juice

Good all-butter puff pastry from the shop is entirely acceptable and is used by many professionals for the base; pâte brisée (shortcrust) also works and is less likely to puff unevenly. The half milk, half water choux gives buns that brown well and stay tender; all water gives a crisper, paler shell. Use a real vanilla pod for the cream if possible — it is the dominant flavour. If you prefer not to use gelatine or Italian meringue, fill the buns and centre with a crème diplomate (the pastry cream folded with 200 ml whipped double cream) or simply sweetened Chantilly cream; the cake will be softer and must be eaten within a few hours.

iv. Method

1. For the pastry cream, bring the milk and vanilla to a simmer. Whisk the yolks, 60 g sugar and cornflour, pour on the hot milk, return to the pan and cook, whisking, until it thickens and boils for 1 minute. Remove the vanilla pod, whisk in the squeezed gelatine, cover the surface with clingfilm and keep warm.
2. Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F), fan 180 °C. Roll the puff pastry to 3 mm and cut a 22 cm disc. Place on a lined tray, prick all over with a fork and chill.
3. For the choux, bring the water, milk, butter, 1 tsp sugar and salt to a rolling boil. Add the flour all at once and beat over the heat for 1–2 minutes until the paste comes away from the pan in a ball. Cool for 3 minutes, then beat in the eggs gradually until the paste is glossy and falls from the spoon in a thick V-shaped ribbon.
4. Pipe a ring of choux 1 cm thick just inside the edge of the pastry disc, then a loose spiral in the centre. On a second lined tray, pipe 16–18 buns about 2.5 cm across. Brush with beaten egg.
5. Bake both trays for 15 minutes, then reduce to 170 °C (340 °F), fan 150 °C, and bake 15–20 minutes more until deep golden and dry. Pierce each bun underneath and cool on a rack.
6. For the meringue, boil 120 g sugar and 40 ml water to 118 °C. Meanwhile whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then pour in the syrup in a thin stream with the whisk running and whisk until thick, glossy and lukewarm. Fold into the warm pastry cream in three additions to make the chiboust.
7. Fill the buns through the holes with some of the chiboust using a small nozzle.
8. For the caramel, cook 200 g sugar, 60 ml water and the lemon juice without stirring until pale amber. Dip the base of the pan in cold water to stop the cooking. Carefully dip the top of each bun in caramel and place caramel-side down on a lightly oiled tray to set, then dip the bases in caramel and stick them round the choux ring.
9. Fill the centre with the remaining chiboust, piping it in waves or with a Saint-Honoré nozzle. Chill for 1 hour to set before serving.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Bake the choux until truly dry. Pale, soft buns collapse as they cool and will not support the caramel. Deep golden and hollow-sounding is right.
• Dock the puff pastry well. Pricking it all over stops the base rising unevenly and tipping the choux ring.
• Add the eggs to the choux gradually. Flours absorb differently, so you may not need every drop. Too much egg gives flat, spreading buns.
• Use the chiboust while still soft. Once the gelatine sets, it turns lumpy when piped. Fill the buns and centre as soon as it is made.
• Handle caramel with great care. Use tongs or a fork to dip the buns, keep a bowl of cold water nearby, and never touch the sugar. Setting the dipped tops face-down on an oiled tray gives a flat, glossy finish.
• Assemble on the day. Caramel softens in the fridge and humidity, so the cake is at its best within a few hours of finishing.

vi. Variations

The modern Saint-Honoré usually has a vanilla pastry cream base topped with Chantilly cream piped through a V-shaped nozzle in decorative scallops. Pastry shops make individual Saint-Honorés, chocolate versions with chocolate chiboust, salted caramel versions with caramel cream, and summer versions with strawberries or raspberries. In Italy, torta Saint-Honoré is a popular celebration cake, often with chocolate and vanilla creams side by side.

Its choux-pastry relatives include the Paris-Brest, a praline-cream choux ring, and the religieuse, two stacked iced buns. For other grand cream-filled pastries, the Polish kremówka and Slovenian kremna rezina layer puff pastry with custard, while the Russian Napoleon cake is a many-layered descendant of mille-feuille.

vii. Serving & storage

Gâteau Saint-Honoré is a celebration cake: bring it to the table whole, then cut it into wedges with a sharp serrated knife, giving each person at least one caramel bun. It is traditionally served for Sunday lunch, birthdays and feast days, and pairs well with Champagne, a sweet wine or strong coffee.

It is best eaten within 4–6 hours of assembly, kept in the fridge until 15 minutes before serving. After that the caramel begins to soften and weep, and the pastry loses its crispness, although leftovers are still good the next day. You can prepare components ahead: the choux buns and base can be baked a day in advance and re-crisped in a 160 °C oven for 5 minutes, and unfilled choux buns freeze well for a month. The chiboust and caramel must be made on the day.

ix. More from French

• Paris-Brest — praline cream choux ring
• Religieuse — stacked choux nun pastry
• Mont Blanc — chestnut meringue pastry
• Macarons — almond meringue sandwiches
• Kremówka — Polish cream slice
• Napoleon Cake — Russian mille-feuille