A Patron Saint of Confectioners?

Fun fact: Tuesday (May 16th) is the feast day of Saint Honoratus of Amiens. Who's that, you ask? Why, he is the patron saint of confectioners and bakers!

If you grew up Catholic like I did, then you're familiar with the concept of patron saints. Among the famous are Saint Christopher (patron saint of travellers), Saint Anthony (lost articles), Saint Jude (hopeless causes), and Saint Francis of Assisi (environment and animals). And if you sang in the church choir like I did, then you've probably intoned the Litany of the Saints and have heard of the more obscure ones, like Saints Cosmas and Damien (pharmacists), Saint Bartholomew (bookbinders, butchers, and leatherworkers), Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (ecology), and Saint Jerome (archaeologists and librarians). 

Saint Honoratus, I'm afraid, slipped from my memory -- if he was ever there. I've gone back and looked at a few versions of the Litany of the Saints, and he doesn't appear to have made the cut. I (re)discovered he existed during my professional chocolatier program. It was probably in advance of one of the assignments involving cooked sugar, which I find to be terrifying. I vaguely remember wondering if there was a patron saint of chocolatiers to whom I could pray. My quick search on Google revealed there was one for confectioners and I decided that was close enough (perhaps even better given the assignment). 

Saint Honoratus of Amiens (Honoré, sometimes Honorius) died circa 600 CE. He became associated with bakers and confectioners as a result of a baking peel miraculously transforming into a mulberry tree after he was proclaimed a bishop (visit Catholic Online or read the NPR version of the story). Often depicted with loaves of bread and a peel, by the 15th century, he was associated with a guild of bakers in Paris. It is after him that the famous Gateau St. Honoré is named -- a dessert often said to be the ultimate test of a pastry students, with puff pastry, pâte á choux, pastry cream, and caramelized sugar. It was developed in the 19th century at a bakery located on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. 

And so, how better to celebrate Saint Honoratus than to make a Gateau St. Honoré‽ 

Just kidding. While I would LOVE to try making this dessert, I would have to do it for a party. It isn't something that will keep more than 24 hours, so it should be eaten shortly after it is made, in one sitting if possible. And as much as I'd like to make a decadent dessert and eat it myself (maybe offering a profiterole or two to Chris), I don't think my Fitbit would be happy with me. Alas, there is no badge for setting a record for fat intake in a day...

So instead I decided to make part of a Gateau St. Honoré -- the profiteroles -- in honour of his feast day. Choux pastry is notoriously finicky, so I prayed to Saint Honoratus before beginning. And then made and baked the pâte á choux. It was easier than expected! I filled a few with some leftover vanilla bean whipped cream that wasn't quite as stiff as it should have been, but was delicious nonetheless. I topped them with some chocolate ganache. 

The result? Delicious!

These are very moreish. I may try filling a few of the choux shells with ice cream on the weekend. Or with pastry cream. Or with chocolate whipped cream. The possibilities are endless!

As for the full Gateau St. Honoré, it will have to wait. But I'm ready for it whenever the opportunity presents itself! In the process of researching recipes I learned that there is a piping tip called St. Honoré, named after Saint Honoratus and used for the famed dessert. Having nothing like it in my piping tip collection, I ordered the tips from Amazon. 

And maybe, on Tuesday, we should all enjoy some good bread from a local bakery.    

A Different Kind of Truffle

As we begin month 5 of this chocolate resolution, it's time to revisit the truffle. Admittedly, I'm going off book with this post (that is, I'm not reading Ewald Notter's The Art of the Chocolatier this week), but I thought it only right to share this off-the-beaten-path chocolate adventure.

I was invited to a theme party this weekend -- Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby combined -- and thought I should bring something chocolate to share. I searched for Mexican desserts and in one of those annoying list-style posts that give you 25+ photos pertaining to your search, each on its own page (click, click, click), I saw brigadeiros.

Now, let's be clear: I know that brigadeiros are a Brazilian dessert. But the idea stuck with me, so I went with it. Close enough geographically, says I (when in reality, it's not that close at all if you look at a map). I digress...

Brigadeiros are similar to truffles in that they are rolled confections, but there's no cream and they are made with cocoa powder instead of chocolate (i.e. with cocoa butter). The primary ingredient is sweetened condensed milk, which develops a caramel (dulce de leche) flavour when cooked. Based on my reading, I understand that the texture of a brigadeiro is more chewy than a ganache truffle (which should be smooth and creamy). 

Now, this is one of those recipes that always scares me a little. You put the ingredients into a pot and cook them on medium to medium high heat until the mixture achieves a fudge-like consistency. When they say you must stir constantly, they mean it -- the risk of ingredients burning is high. So, exhaust fan on bust, lest I set off the smoke detectors and evacuate the building, I began the process of cooking. 

It came together much quicker than expected. The recipe said 10-15 minutes, but by 6 I had reached what I thought was the right consistency. I removed the pot from the heat and immediately scraped the mixture onto a buttered plate to cool. Then I set the mixture, well wrapped, in the fridge for a day, because I read that it is best to roll the brigadeiros in sprinkles on the same day you will eat them so that the sprinkles maintain their crunch. 

Of course, I rolled two small samples. Quality assurance processes are important! To my palate, they needed something. Chris suggested more salt. I agreed and thought about doubling the amount of salt in the recipe if I ever made them again.  

Then the following day, I rolled these truffle-like confections. They mixture was incredibly easy to work with. In no time, 22 of them were lined up like soldiers awaiting their sprinkle coating. Thinking back to the need for more salt, I cracked pink Himalayan salt over them and gave them another quick roll to ensure the salt wouldn't fall off, and then rolled them in sprinkles. While the traditional brigadeiro is rolled in chocolate sprinkles, I also rolled some in multicoloured sprinkles that I had on hand to make them more appropriate for Cinco de Mayo. And then I dropped them in into paper cups to transport to the party.

The result?

As the description stated, they have a chewy texture. It's somewhere between a soft caramel and fudge, but not as sticky. Actually, they remind me of a molasses caramel I made during my professional chocolatier program that gave me a great deal of trouble. It tasted delicious, but it was so soft that the cut caramels slumped into irregular mounds in the 12 hours I left them before enrobing them in chocolate. I had to reform them all before I could complete my assignment! I'm writing this post before going to the party, so here's hoping the briagdeiros don't suffer the same fate!

The caramel notes in these "truffles" come through and the sprinkles give a nice texture contrast. And I think that the flavour has developed since I first tested them. 

Delicious, festive, and fun!

Arriba!