WHAT ARE THEY?
Discs of puff pastry topped with a rosette of chantilly cream then a caramel-coated choux puff filled with vanilla pastry cream.
TIME TO MAKE
Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours
Cooking: 35 minutes to 1 hour
Resting: 2 hours
EQUIPMENT
Piping bag (plain 6 mm and 8 mm nozzles, fluted 8 mm nozzle)
Plain cookie cutter (4 cm diameter)
Pastry brush
Thermometer
1–2 mm rolling rods
TECHNIQUES TO MASTER
Making chantilly cream
WHAT DOES THE GLUCOSE DO?
As a small molecule, glucose prevents larger sugars from meeting and crystallising.
ORGANISATION
4 days before | Make the puff pastry over 3 days.
1 day before | Roll out the pastry, cut the rounds and cook them. Set aside at room temperature in a dish covered with a clean tea towel. Make the pastry cream and set aside in the refrigerator. Make the choux puffs and set aside unfilled in a dish at room temperature.
On the day | Fill the choux puffs and coat with caramel. Make the chantilly cream.
4–6 hours before | Assemble.
MAKES 30
1 PUFF PASTRY
60 g water
5 g white vinegar
2 g salt
15 g unsalted butter, melted,
plus 75 g extra for turning
125 g plain flour
1 egg, for glazing
2 CHOUX PASTRY
100 g milk
100 g water
2 g salt
2 g sugar
90 g (⅓ cup) unsalted butter
110 g (¾ cup) plain flour
200 g egg (about 4 eggs)
3 PASTRY CREAM
65 g egg yolk (about 4–5 eggs)
80 g sugar
35 g cornflour (or custard powder)
½ vanilla bean
300 g full-cream milk
35 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
4 CHANTILLY CREAM
½ vanilla bean
400 g whipping cream (35 per cent fat)
40 g (⅓ cup) icing sugar
5 CARAMEL
90 g water
300 g sugar
60 g glucose
1 Make the puff pastry following the method. Once the turns are completed, roll out the dough thinly, 1–2 mm thick, using rolling rods. Refrigerate for 1 hour to rest. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cut out 30 puff pastry discs using a 4 cm cookie cutter.
2 Lay the pastry discs on a baking tray covered with baking paper, then cover with a second sheet of baking paper and another baking tray. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the top tray to check if the discs are cooked; continue cooking until they are golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
3 Preheat the oven to 230°C. Make the choux pastry following the method. Pipe 30 choux of 2 cm diameter on a non-stick baking tray using a plain 8 mm nozzle. Glaze with the egg using a pastry brush.
4 Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and put in the choux. Open the oven briefly after 20 minutes to let the steam escape. Bake until they are uniformly golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Make the pastry cream following the method, adding the scraped seeds of the vanilla to the milk, and allow to cool. Whisk it to make it smooth. Make a hole in each choux round using the tip of a kitchen knife. Fill the choux with the pastry cream using a piping bag with a plain 6 mm nozzle.
5 To make the caramel, heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan over a high heat, whisking occasionally to dissolve all the sugar. It should not colour. Remove from the heat when it boils and whisk in the glucose. Clean the sides of the pan using a pastry brush dipped in water. Prepare a large bowl of cold water.
6 Return the saucepan to a high heat and bring to 160°C without stirring. Remove from the heat and put the bottom of the saucepan in the cold water for about 30 seconds to stop the caramel cooking.
7 Dip each choux round in the caramel, then turn over so the caramel is facing upwards and leave to harden.
8 Make the chantilly cream following the method. Pipe a rosette of chantilly cream on the puff pastry rounds using a piping bag with a fluted 8 mm nozzle. Place a caramelised choux round on top and serve.
