(Saint-Honoré cake - Traditional recipe)

Time: preparation: 30 minutes Half a glass of rum 750 ml (27 fl oz - 3 1/2 oz) pastry cream 100 g (3 1/2 oz) chopped hazelnuts 500 ml (16 fl oz - 2 C) fresh whipping cream 100 g (3 1/2 oz) semi-sweet chocolate Maddalena cake Empty profiteroles Icing sugar easy recipe

  Spoon measures are American spoons, that is standard cook's measuring spoons used in USA.
  The best plan is to regard 2 American teaspoons or tablespoons as 1 English teaspoon or tablespoon (eating spoons)

There are many versions of Saint-Honoré cake. We describe you the recipe we make in our special occasions.

Divide Maddalena cake into three layers that must have the same thickness. Mix rum with the same quantity of cold water and soak lightly every layer with it. Put the first layer on the serving platter and spread on it about the half of pastry cream. Add the second layer and
spoon other pastry cream; remember to put apart some tablespoons of pastry cream.
Add the third layer. At this point spread the remaining pastry cream on the border and arrange chopped hazelnuts with a spoon or your hand.
Whip very well fresh cream. You have to add 4 tablespoons icing sugar to make this step
easier.
Melt chocolate in a bain-marie; let it cool. Fold the third part of the whipped cream into
melted chocolate in circular movements from the bottom upwards, using a wooden spoon.
Be careful not to collapse your mixture.
Fill the half of profiteroles with the whipped cream and the other ones with the mixture of chocolate and whipped cream.
Spoon the remaining whipped cream on the surface of the cake. Dip the edge of every profiterole in the pastry cream and arrange on the surface. Garnish with the mixture of chocolate and whipped cream. The cake is ready. Chill until you have to serve it.

Note
- There are some recipes in which whipped cream is substituted with butter cream.
- You can fill your profiteroles with pastry cream instead of whipped cream.
- Some people make this cake with sweet tart pastry. They prepare a round 2 inch thick layer,
  put it in a baking pan, prick the bottom with a fork and bake for 15 minutes at 180°C
  (350°F). When it's cool, they garnish the layer with whipped cream and profiteroles
  filled with pastry cream
- You can make by yourself pastry cream and Maddalena cake. You need more time and the
  recipe is more difficult but the cake is very tasty.

What's the right wine?
Our suggestion is: a sweet dessert wine (Passito di Pantelleria from Italy)

If you want to combine this dish with other ones for a complete menu,
consult our "Members-only Area".