St Honore a Classic Parisian Dessert

This Parisian dessert is named after the patron saint of boulangers, Saint-Honoré, also known as Honoratus. The story goes that when Saint-Honoré was the bishop of Amiens, a baker’s peel (a flat wooden utensil used to move loaves of bread in and out of hot ovens) grew roots and transformed into a fruit tree! The dessert, invented in the 19th century in a Parisian pastry shop on the Rue Saint-Honoré, was initially a ring of cream puffs with pastry cream filling. It eventually morphed into its current day shape: a pastry disk filled with cream, covered with cream puffs, caramelized sugar and whipped cream. It is called a “master pastry” because it contains some of the fundamental recipes and methods taught in pastry school: puff pastry, pâte à choux, pastry cream and caramelized sugar. The cream filling is called Chiboust after the pastry shop in which the dessert was invented: it is a type of custard and egg white combination, sometimes flavored with zests like orange or vanilla. It is also worth noting that there exists a special piping tip called the St Honoré that has a distinct “V” shape: it allows the pastry-maker to set creamy designs on the cake!