Strawberry Gâteau Saint-Honoré
Inspired by techniques from Mary Cadogan (BBC Good Food).
A make-in-stages Saint-Honoré: a crisp almond pastry base ringed with almond-topped choux buns filled with vanilla custard cream and strawberries, the centre piled with more berries and drizzled with light caramel.
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Method
- 1
Make the pastry. Blitz the flour, almonds, butter and sugar in the food processor to fine crumbs. Add the egg yolk (keep the white) and pulse until the dough clumps, adding a few drops of water if needed. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- 2
Bake the base. Heat the oven to 200 °C (180 °C fan). Roll the pastry out on parchment and trim to a 26 cm round using a plate as a guide. Slide it, still on the paper, onto a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool, then move to the serving plate.
- 3
Make the choux. Line the second sheet with parchment. Melt the butter in the water, then bring to a full boil. Off the heat, tip in all the flour and beat until it forms a smooth ball. Cool for 10 minutes, then beat in the eggs a little at a time until the paste is thick and glossy. Spoon 12 even mounds onto the sheet, brush with the lightly whisked egg white and scatter with the flaked almonds.
- 4
Bake the buns. Bake for 25-30 minutes until crisp and golden. Split each bun, return to the oven for 5 minutes to dry out, then cool on a rack and scoop out any soft centre.
- 5
Make the custard. Mix the custard powder and sugar in a pan, stir in a splash of the milk to a smooth paste, then the rest. Bring gently to the boil, stirring, until thick. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla, press cling film onto the surface and cool completely.
- 6
Assemble. Stir the custard smooth. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold it in. Slice a third of the strawberries. Spread a thin layer of custard cream over the base, fold the sliced berries into the rest and use it to fill the buns. Set the buns round the edge of the base, spoon the remaining cream into the middle and pile the rest of the strawberries on top.
- 7
Make the caramel. Put the 100 g sugar and 2 tbsp water in the small pan and heat without stirring until dissolved, tilting the pan if needed, then boil hard to a light golden caramel. Let the bubbles settle, then drizzle over the buns. Dust with icing sugar and serve within 2 hours.
Storage
Assemble no more than 2 hours before serving and keep chilled. Leftovers keep in the fridge for 1 day, though the choux softens.
EU nutrition claims
- Low salt: 0.08 g salt per 100 g (limit ≤ 0.3 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 113 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
15.3 g per serving
30.6 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 61.2 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- food processor
- baking parchment
- 2 large baking sheets
- rolling pin
- medium saucepan
- wooden spoon
- pastry brush
- electric whisk
- small heavy-based saucepan
- large flat serving plate
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 364 kcal |
| Protein | 6.2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 35.4 g |
| of which sugars | 20.7 g |
| of which free sugars | 15.3 g |
| Fat | 22.8 g |
| of which saturates | 12.3 g |
| Fibre | 2.4 g |
| Salt | 0.09 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
1.7 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
