Challenge of the Week #1

The challenge: Eat a classic pastry from a top patisserie in Paris and, using it as inspiration, create a similar recipe that can be made easily at home. 

The pastry: religieuse

The pâtisserie: Cyril Lignac, 2 rue de Chaillot, 75016, Paris

In Catholic Europe, it is no surprise to find food and beverages named after members of the church. In Italy, for example, the cappuccino, takes its name from the capuchin monks, who wear coffee colored robes and always seem to have long white beards. France is no different, where one of its most traditional cakes is la religieuse, which literally means nun. A large choux bun, filled with coffee flavored crème pâtissière, with a smaller one, stuck on top by means of a cream necklace, and both buns covered in chocolate ganache, la religieuse is a common site in pâtisseries all over Paris. 

I am no big fan of chocolate and coffee in pastries, so I visited Cyril Lignac's patisserie in the trendy 16th district of Paris, since I had heard he did a raspberry religieuse that sounded intriguing. Originally from the south-west of France, Lignac came to Paris thirteen years ago, and trained and worked with some of the best chefs in the city, namely Alain Passard, the Pourcel brothers, and the legendary Pierre Hermé, and Alain Ducasse. He now owns three restaurants, including Le Quinzieme, which holds a Michelin star, and two pâtisseries, all in Paris. 

Lignac is a common sight on French TV, where he is currently one of the hosts of Le Meilleur Pâtissier, the French version of the BBC TV cult, The Great British Bake Off. 

Cyril Lignac's shop on the Rue de Chaillot, Paris 16ème

Lignac's religieuse was quite extraordinary. He used red choux pastry, which gave it an original look, reminiscent of a cardinal, but which was clearly a woman, in her Sunday best all ready for church. She wore a collar of chocolate which had been colored a metallic bronze, and her raspberry hat was topped off with gold leaf—an extremely elegant touch. The pastry was filled with a rich chocolate cream with mouth-wateringly tart raspberries throughout. I remember thinking, as I ate it in a nearby park, in full view of the Eiffel Tower, that it was one of the most exquisite things I had ever tasted—a truly religious experience. 

I decided to make my version to suit my own taste. Out went the milk chocolate, and in came white, combined with strawberries, my favorite fruit since childhood. I kept the red colored pastry, but decided to try and make it look like a cardinal, dressed up for a grand Vatican ceremony. To achieve this, I used white chocolate ganache as his surplice, and cut a strawberry in the shape of a mitre on top. To keep it simple to make at home, I abandoned the necklace, as this would have required piping skills and voilà the result. Not so stylish as Lignac's but impressive for a family gathering or as a dinner party dessert. I am going to work on refining the presentation and will give you an update when I have, but remember, the challenge was to prepare something that could be made quickly and easily at home. So, how did I do?

The recipe follows after the pictures. 

Strawberry and white chocolate religieuse

Active time: 45 mins

Total time: 2 1/2 hrs

choux pastry

1/2 tsp red powder food coloring

creme pâtissière

12 strawberries

50g / 1/4 cup white chocolate

50g / 1/4 cup cream

1. Pre-heat the oven to 250°C / 480°F. 

2. Prepare the choux pastry, but mix 1/2 teaspoon of red powder food coloring with the flour. When it is ready, put it in a piping bag and pipe six large and six small buns. Turn the oven off and place the buns in the oven for 25 minutes. Then turn the oven on to 160°C / 325°F and cook the small buns for 10 mins and the large ones for 20 mins. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack. 

3. Prepare the creme pâtissière. When it is ready, chop 6 strawberries into small pieces and stir into the cream. 

4. Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a glass bowl. Boil the cream and then add it to the bowl. Leave for 10 mins and then stir to incorporate all the chocolate. Leave to cool. 

5. Make a small hole in the top of the choux buns with a skewer. Place the creme pâtissière in a piping bag and fill each of the buns. Then dip the large buns in the white chocolate. Pipe a small amount of creme pâtissière on the top of each large bun. Dip the bottom of the small buns in the white chocolate and then stick them, upside down, to the large buns using the creme pâtissière. Cut the remaining six strawberries into mitre shapes, and then place on the top of each small bun. 

Basic recipe #2: Pȃte à choux

choux buns

My recipe this week also calls for pȃte à choux  or choux pastry, which will be used again and again, so I am filing it here under a 'basic recipe' post. This doesn't feel like a pastry in the traditional sense, but is rather a mixture of milk, water, and butter that is thickened with flour. It is the basis of chocolate éclairs, profiteroles, and also the ubiquitous chouquettes.

Chouquettes are tiny puffs of choux covered in giant grains of sugar, and eaten for breakfast, or as a four o'clock snack. The bakery opposite my apartment always has a tempting stack of them in a basket on the counter, pleading with you to take a couple home with your daily bread. I regularly oblige. The neutral, creamy flavour of the little balls of air is sweetened perfectly by the perles du sucre, which look beautiful too.

I remember Mrs. Cook—real name—my High School cookery teacher, talking of the mysteries of choux and propagating the myth of its difficulty. As always with French pâtisserie, if you respect the method and quantities, it's really not hard. Try the recipe below and you will see, that it's a quick and easy way to impress your friends and family. When you have finished reading, scroll down for a surprise.

Pȃte à choux

Active time: 10 mins
Total time: 10 mins

125 ml / 1/2 cup milk
125 ml / 1/2 cup water
100g / 1 stick butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
150g / 1 cup plain flour
4 eggs

1. Put the milk, water, butter, salt, and sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Remove from the heat and add the flour all in one go; stir with a wooden spoon until it is combined.
3. Return the pan to a medium heat and stir until the mixture forms a ball and comes away from the pan, about 1 minute.
4. Leave to cool for about 1 minute and then add the eggs individually and stir them into the mixture with a wooden spoon. Don't worry if it looks like the mixture has curdled at this point. Just keep stirring and the egg will miraculously disappear into the mixture. When all the eggs are combined, voilà, the pastry is ready to be used.

BONUS RECIPE

Chouquettes

Active time: 10 mins
Total time: 30 mins

pȃte à choux (see recipe above)
pearl sugar

1. Prepare a pȃte à choux. Using a piping bag, pipe small balls of the pastry onto a lightly greased baking sheet. The amount of choux pastry above should make about 24 balls of 2cm / 1 inch diameter.
2. Sprinkle the balls with pearl sugar. If it doesn't stick, press a few grains on by hand.
3. Bake at 180°C / 350°F for about 20 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack and then enjoy.

TIP: If you can't find pearl sugar, then wait until the puffs are cooked and cooled and then sprinkle them with confectioner's sugar.