19 April 2010

Hello Sweet Spring!

Welcome spring! Bienvenue le printemps!

It's been a while since I have seen people wearing T-shirts, shorts and tongs (slippers) and yesterday was the perfect day for them.



Something else went perfectly well on this day of spring, pâtisserie (pastry)!

                                                                  St. Honoré

As it looks, this creamy, sweet dessert is only for the decadent! The french would term this overindulgent desire for food as la gourmandise! Love it.

It's composed of rings of choux stuffed with cream, the same pastry dough and stuffing used for éclair and the base is a Pâte feuilletée (a multi-layered buttery and flaky pastry). The caramel coating on the cream puff rings give it a delightful crunch making its over-the-top sweetness forgivable!

St. Honoré is named after the patron saint des boulangers et des pâtissiers (bakers and pastry chefs) and May 16, the day of his passing, is celebrated as his feast day. Last year during this day, there was a spread of booths in front of Notre Dame selling all types of bread and pastries made on the spot. They were also doing baking demos for the public.

Mango Coco fit for spring


Another trivia to share: several french pastries have religious namesakes. Aside from St. Honoré, there is the religeuse, sacristain, and jésuite. Now if only you could feel "holier" after gorging them down your throat. Oh holy gluttony, I will never resist your temptation!

1 comment:

David said...

Hi THS,

This St Honoré looks luminous!!!
Any idea if this doable at home? any recipe the froggies pastries masters would share?

Thanks in advance for more yummy posts,

Dave