Saint Honoré cake with Thé Merveilleux

Preparation

1. The choux pastry

• Boil 65 cl of milk, 65 cl of water, 2 g of salt and 55 g of butter cut into pieces in a saucepan
• Add 75 g of flour all at once off the heat
• Quickly mix and then replace the saucepan on the heat to dry out the pastry for 3/4 minutes while continuing to stir. It should form a ball that doesn't stick to the saucepan
• Pour the ball into the bowl of the kitchen machine with K-shaped whisks (similar in shape to spatulas) and start to rotate it slowly
• In a bowl, break 100 g of eggs and beat them with a fork
• Gradually add the eggs in 3 stages. You should wait for them to be totally absorbed by the pastry before adding the rest
• Preheat the oven to 230°C
• Fill a pastry bag and pipe round pastries of around 2 cm in diameter. Leave some space between them as they will puff up during baking
• Lightly press on the top with a damp fork to have a rounder top
• Once the oven has been heated to the right temperature, switch it off and put the choux in the oven for 15 minutes. The choux will begin to puff up
• Turn the oven back on to 160 degrees for around 17/20 minutes so they are golden (do not open the oven door during baking).
• Leave the choux to cool on a grate

2. The pistachio cream

• Bring 40 cl of milk to boil in a saucepan
• Beat 4 egg yolks, 45 g of cornflour and 50 g caster sugar in a salad bowl
• Gradually add the milk, beat quickly and decant the mix into the saucepan
• Thicken while continuing to stir (3/4 minutes)
• Pour the mixture in a large bowl and add the butter and 1 teaspoon of pistachio paste
• Mix the entire mixture in a hand blender. Add 40 g of crushed pistachio and cover with film
• Leave to chill for a minimum of 3 hours
• It is important to cut the pistachios with a knife in very small pieces so that they don't clog up the nozzle when the choux are filled
• Make a hole with a small nozzle at the back of the choux
• Quickly beat the cream with a fork to thin it, flow it through a pastry bag with a small flat nozzle and garnish the choux with cream
• Place in the fridge

3. The puff pastry

• Preheat the oven to 180°C
• Cut out 6 circles with a 9 or 10 cm cookie cutter
• Put the cut out dough on a baking tray covered with baking paper
• Cover with a second paper and a baking tray. This means that the pastry will be baked without puffing up too much
• Bake for 25 minutes. It is important for it to be baked well and golden so that it is crisp

4. The caramel

• Heat 250 g of sugar in a small saucepan until it is an amber colour
• Put the saucepan on a dishcloth on a worktop, quickly soak the small pastry puffs and put them on a grate
• Leave to harden for 10 minutes, then quickly soak the side of the chou in caramel and attach it to the puff pastry

5. The grapefruit segments

• Peel the grapefruit with a sharp knife leaving no white skin
• Extract each segment one by one above a salad bowl with the blade of a small knife, without including the skin

6. The whipped ganache

• Boil 110 g of cream
• Off the heat, add 1.5 tablespoons of Thé Merveilleux and leave to infuse for 5 minutes
• Remove the tea and filter if needed
• Cut 160 g white chocolate into little pieces and pour the still hot cream into the white chocolate in three separate stages, resulting in a fine ganache. Vigorously mix
• Add 270 g ganache cream
• Mix and cover with a film. Leave in a cool place for at least 3 hours (this may last up to one night)
• Beat using a kitchen machine so that the cream is whipped like Chantilly. Put on the cake when serving using a fluted tip pastry bag

7. Assembly

• Fill a fluted tip pastry bag
• Begin to pipe the cream onto the bottom, add grapefruit segments, add more cream and add a small pastry puff at the centre as well as 20 g of pistachio slivers