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Falkner's over-the-top homage to the patron saint of French pastry features a crunchy puff pastry foundation, ringed walls of caramel-filled cream puffs, and a rich chocolate cream center. To serve, cut it into small slices, or, better yet, encourage your guests to gather around with knives and forks and dig in.
Ingredients
Makes 10 servings
Base and cream puffs:
Pastry cream:
Milk chocolate diplomat cream:
Salted caramel mousseline:
Assembly:
For base and cream puffs:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unfold 1 puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Unfold second pastry sheet and place directly on top of first, forming 2 layers. Press slightly to adhere. Using a 10" cake pan or tart pan bottom as a guide, cut pastry with a paring knife into a 10" round. Place on 1 prepared sheet.
Step 2
Bake base until puffed and deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool. DO AHEAD:Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
Step 3
For cream puffs, preheat oven to 375°F. Combine milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 cup flour. Stir to combine. Return to medium-high heat; stir dough vigorously until a dry film forms on bottom and sides of pan, about 2 minutes.
Step 4
Transfer dough to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating fully between additions. Scrape dough into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2" tip or a plastic bag with 1/2" cut diagonally from 1 corner. Pipe 1"-1 1/4"-diameter rounds onto second parchment-lined sheet (there should be 25-30 rounds). Smooth any pointed tips with damp fingertips to form rounded tops.
Step 5
Bake for 20 minutes. Lower temperature to 325°F and bake until golden brown and dry, 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely.
Step 6
Using a sharp knife, cut a small hole in bottom of each puff. DO AHEAD:>Can be made 2 months ahead. Store airtight in freezer. Thaw before continuing.
Pastry cream:
Step 7
Bring milk and 1/3 cup sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Stir cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl to dissolve. Whisk egg yolks with remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Add cornstarch mixture. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture; return to saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat until thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter. Whisk until melted and smooth. Divide pastry cream equally between 2 medium bowls (about 1 1/4 cups each). Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of 1 bowl of pastry cream. Chill until cold and reserve for salted caramel mousseline. Immediately use hot pastry cream for diplomat cream.
Milk chocolate diplomat cream:
Step 8
Add milk chocolate to hot pastry cream; stir until melted and smooth. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of cream and let cool to room temperature.
Step 9
Place 2 tablespoons cold water in a medium bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over; let stand for 10 minutes to soften. Bring 1/2 cup cream to a boil in a small heavy saucepan. Add hot cream mixture to softened gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved. Chill just until cold, whisking frequently, about 5 minutes. Place remaining 1 cup chilled cream in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until peaks form. Add gelatin mixture and beat until stiff peaks form.
Step 10
Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture in 3 additions, folding just to blend between additions. Cover and chill until set, about 3 hours.
Salted caramel mousseline:
Step 11
Stir 2 tablespoons water, sugar, and cream of tartar in a saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high; boil without stirring, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until deep amber color forms, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat; gradually add cream (mixture will bubble vigorously). Stir until any caramel bits dissolve and mixture is smooth. Let cool.
Step 12
在一个站混合器安装whisk attachment, beat reserved chilled pastry cream and caramel sauce at medium speed. Gradually add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until fully incorporated between additions. Beat in salt and vanilla. Scoop into a pastry bag fitted with a small tip or a plastic bag with 1/4" cut diagonally from 1 corner and pipe into cream puffs. Cover cream puffs and chill.
Assembly:
Step 13
Set the puff pastry disk on a serving plate. Set half of cream puffs aside. Dip bottom of remaining cream puffs intoChocolate Glazeand arrange in a circle, chocolate side down, around the edge of the pastry, leaving a 1/2" plain border. Repeat with remaining cream puffs, layering over first row of puffs as if laying bricks. Spoon chilled diplomat cream into center of gâteau, spreading out to inner edge of cream puffs. Dust lightly with powdered sugar.
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Reviews (6)
Back to TopThis was amazing! My mom and I spent many hours making this for my birthday, and it was worth the effort. It is a very decadent, rich dessert. We look forward to making this again next year, and improving on our technique.
swigzter
Indianapolis, IN
3/31/2016
Forgot to give this a fork rating. 3 forks.
adrianwright
Pittsburgh, PA
2/9/2014
I made this on inspiration from the film "Haute Cuisine", and was really pleased with how it turned out. The mousseline was extremely light and flavorful, my favorite part. I used my own cream puff recipe and homemade puff pastry, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. I read about issues with incorporating the butter in the mousseline so I used mostly melted butter and gave it time to chill afterwards. I'd recommend doing that if you're concerned that the butter won't incorporate. We served this for a party of friends and it went over really well. I would make it again, but it won't be regular because it's time consuming and (let's be honest) not very healthy. Take care to make ROUND cream puffs. Abnormal shapes make an unstable "wall". Make extras so you can choose those with the best shape.
adrianwright
Pittsburgh, PA
2/9/2014
Wow, this recipe held so much hope. I could not get the diplomat cream to achieve stiff peaks and followed the process to the letter.... Twice. It still curdled and did not achieve "stiff peaks", and as the other reviewer stated, my caramel mousseline also looked curdled, and was really quite runny. All components were really tasty but something just did not work and i am not a novice baker.
ezbake
Canada
10/12/2013
Gateau is very tasty and impressive looking but the recipe is tedious and time consuming. The butter did not incorporate well into the caramel pastry cream, resulting in a curdled looking product. I doubt that I will make it again.
erlearned
Clarendon Hills, IL
3/11/2013
The recipe had tons of steps, but was worth every bit of effort. It served 11 with left overs. We didn't try to slice it, but just broke cream puffs off and put the diplomat cream by spoonfuls on dessert plates. I had a bit of trouble adding the butter to the mousseline, and had to let the chilled pastry cream come up to room temperature before the butter would mix in.
Anonymous
11/7/2011