Saint Honore Fraise: Cute, individual Strawberry Saint Honore

 It's my second attempt on Saint Honore, but I'm still far from mastering it, haha.

 As always I fall in love with the look and it makes me want to crate it. Individual Saint Honore is very cute. The first attempt, I made the original flavor and got burn from caramel, -*-. So, I thought this time I make something safe, ^^, like using fondant. But it's my fate, haha, I never bought the fondant that use for covering the sweet before, and when I wanted to use it, I had to make it by myself. It's not hard but not easy too, it's a temperature game, you do it right, you get fondant that's all. If you want to make it by yourself, you can use the recipe in this post. And don't skip it, the flavor of this dessert comes from every elements, even the fondant is important. When I tasted it, I cut the fondant part out and found it too bland, the sweetness from fondant is great when comes together with the tangy strawberry cream.
But it's not easy for me to make it, haha. I got some problems when piping the Crème Chantilly Fraise, I think the cream warmed up from my hand and didn't hold it shape, so beware of this, it need to be cool when piping. It will be great to serve it the day it made, so prepare all the thing you need and assemble the day you want to serve it. ^^

Saint Honore Fraise 

Makes 10

Choux Pastry
 90g ........................... Water
40g ........................... Unsalted butter
................................... A pinch of salt
50g .......................... Cake flour
2 .............................. Eggs (You will use more or less)
.................................. 1/4 of the recipe butter puff pastry
Crème patissière
200g ........................ Whole milk
3cm .......................... Vanilla bean (scrap the seeds from the bean)
2 ............................... Egg yolks
7g ........................... Corn starch
35g ........................... Granulated sugar
15g ........................... Cake flour
15g ........................... Unsalted butter
................................... A pinch of salt

Fondant
80g ........................ Water
606g ........................ Granulated sugar
53g .......................... Corn syrup
0.3g ......................... Cream of tartar

Crème Fraise
270g ........................ Strawberry puree
30g .......................... Egg yolks
40g .......................... Granulated sugar
1/2tsp ..................... Corn starch
0.8g ......................... Gelatin sheets
75g ........................... Unsalted butter

 Crème Chantilly Fraise
410g ........................ Whipping cream
35g .......................... Icing sugar
140g ........................ Strawberry puree
4.5g ......................... Gelatin sheets

Finishing touch:

Crème Diplomat
300g ...................... Crème patissière
60g ........................ Whipping cream

Fondant rose
................................ Fondant
................................ Simple syrup
................................ Pink food coloring


Make Fondant:

Prepare ice cold water. 
Lightly oil the metal frame and marble surface.
Put water into the pan with granulated sugar, warm the corn syrup by placing in the bowl over a bowl of hot water.
Put the pan over medium heat, and cook until 108°C, mix the cream of tartar with hot water and pour into the pan with the corn syrup.
Let the syrup cook until 115°C.
Splash the cold water over the marble surface, pour the hot syrup into the frame.
Let the syrup cool until 50°C.

Knead until white in color.

Make Crème Chantilly Fraise

Bloom the gelatin in cold water.
Warm the strawberry puree in the microwave, then stir in the gelatin sheets, let it cool completely.
When the strawberry puree cool, mix the puree with whipping cream and icing sugar. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make Crème Fraise

Bloom the gelatin in cold water.
 In a small saucepan, bring the strawberry puree to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together.


Once the strawberry puree has reached the boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot strawberry puree into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the strawberry puree into the tempered yolk mixture.

Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 minutes (still over medium heat).
Take the pan out of the heat and whisk in the gelatin.
Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. 

Let the mixture cool a bit (about 60°C) using a blender blend the butter into the cream.
Cover with plastic, refrigerate until ready to use.


Make the crème patissière:

Scrap the seeds from the Vanilla bean. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar, vanilla seeds, salt, cake flour and cornstarch together.

Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).

Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Whisk the butter into the pastry cream, cover with plastic warp (place directly onto the top of the pastry cream). Let it cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 200°C

Sift the flour and set aside.

Line the sheet pan with baking paper. 

   Bring water, butter and salt to a boil. Remove from heat, add flour all at once, blend well, stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture no longer sticks to pan and forms into a ball. Reduce heat to low and return pan to stove, beating for 2-3 minute Remove from heat. 

Whisk in eggs one at a time (a little at a time, you might not need all of them).

 When the batter is smooth and glossy, test with your finger, you will be able to stretch it.

 Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 1 cm plain tip nozzle with the dough.

Cut the puff pastry into 10 pieces (6.5cm rounds), pick over the puff pastry.
Pipe the choux pastry over the puff pastry, pipe the rest of the choux pastry into small rounds.
For base: Lower the heat to  the oven to 180°C. Put into the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until they start to brown.

Lower the heat to  the oven to 160°C. and bake for 10-15 minutes more or until they are puffed, golden and firm.

For small rounds: Lower the heat to  the oven to 180°C. Put into the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until they start to brown.

Lower the heat to  the oven to 160°C. and bake for 10 minutes more or until they are puffed, golden and firm.

*I have my oven door maintained open with a wooden spoon for the last 5 minutes).
Let the 

Make Crème Diplomat:

Pour the cream into a bowl. Using a balloon whisk or electric beaters, whip until soft peak form.
Fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream.
Put the Crème Diplomat into a piping bag.

Whip the Crème Chantilly Fraise until firm peaks formed.
Put the cream in a piping bag.

Assemble:

Pipe the Crème Fraise into the choux pastry.
Warm the fondant over hot water and mix with syrup just to make a paste, mix in the pink food coloring.
Dip the top of choux  into the fondant.
Place the small choux on the base.
Pipe the Crème Diplomat in the center.
Pipe around the pastry with Crème Chantilly Fraise.
I decorated mine with freeze dried strawberry.

Saint Honore Fraise

Saint Honore Fraise: Cute, individual Strawberry Saint Honore