St Honoré Cake

Ingredients:

• 375 g frozen puff pastry, thawed

Crème patisserie

• 500 ml milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
• 4 egg yolks
• 125 g caster sugar
• 75 g plain flour, sifted
• 15 g unsalted butter, chopped

Chantilly cream

• 300 ml thickened cream
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Caramel

• 440 g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp glucose syrup

Choux pastry

• 100 g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
• 150 g plain flour, sifted
• 4 eggs

Method:

1. To make crème patisserie, place milk and vanilla bean and seeds in a large saucepan over high heat and bring to just below boiling point.
2. Meanwhile, place egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl, whisking to combine, then add flour, whisking to combine. Gradually pour in hot milk mixture, whisking slowly to combine. Return to same pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat back of a spoon.
3. Add butter, stirring to combine. Strain into a bowl, discarding vanilla bean. Cover surface with plastic wrap and cool. Refrigerate until needed.
4. Meanwhile, to make choux pastry, place 250 ml water and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to just below boiling point.
5. Remove from heat, then, working quickly to avoid lumps, add all the flour, beating with a wooden spoon. Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball and comes away from the side of the pan.
6. Remove from heat and allow cooling slightly. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well before each addition. Pastry should be smooth, soft and just firm. Set aside.
7. Preheat oven to 220°C. Grease and line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface to 6 cm discs, about 5mm thick.
8. Transfer to one of the prepared trays and prick all over with a fork. Place choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a 1½ cm plain nozzle. Pipe two circles onto each pastry disc, starting on the edge and working towards the centre, leaving a gap between each concentric circle. Pipe remaining choux into 5 mm profiteroles on second prepared oven tray. Brush each with a little water.
9. Place pastry bases and profiteroles in oven and bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until golden, then reduce heat to 180°C and bake base for a further 25 minutes and profiteroles for a further 10 minutes or until dry. After removing profiteroles from oven, cut a small hole in each base to allow steam to escape. Transfer pastry bases and profiteroles to wire racks and set aside to cool completely.
10. Meanwhile, to make Chantilly cream, whisk cream with sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer to stiff peaks. Refrigerate until needed.
11. Reserving 60 ml, place crème patisserie into a piping bag fitted with a 1 cm plain nozzle and fill the profiteroles.
12. To make caramel, fill a large heatproof bowl with iced water. Place sugar, glucose and 125 ml water in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook for 10 minutes or until dark golden. Dip base of pan into iced water to stop caramel from cooking, then use immediately – if caramel starts to set, place pan over low heat and stir until softened again.
13. Working quickly and carefully, dip top of one filled profiterole into hot caramel, allowing excess to drip off, then set aside. Repeat with remaining 11 profiteroles and caramel.
14. To assemble gateau, spread reserved crème patisserie around edge of cooled pastry base and place a little in the centre.
15. Arrange profiteroles, caramel-side up, around pastry edge and leaving a 5 mm gap between each.
16. Place Chantilly cream in a piping bag fitted with a 2 cm fluted nozzle, then pipe cream around centre profiterole and in between profiteroles around the edge.