Fir tree chocolate religious made with
– choux pastry
– chocolate custard
– chocolate fondant
– crispy balls, chocolate star
Materials used
– Micro-perforated silicone baking mat
– Pastry bags
– Pastry bag
– Kitchen thermometer
Ingredients
Choux pastry
✔60g water
✔60g milk
✔70g flour
✔55g butter
✔Salt
✔1 teaspoon sugar
✔2 or 3 eggs (depending on size)
Chocolate pastry cream
✔300g milk
✔60 g sugar
✔2 egg yolks
✔25 g cornflour
✔50 g milk chocolate
✔10g butter
Assembly
✔White pastry fondant
✔Milk chocolate
✔Crispy balls
✔Gold chocolate star
The recipe
For 6 or 7 Religieuses
For the choux pastry
✔60g water
✔60g milk
✔70g flour
✔55g butter
✔Salt
✔1 teaspoon sugar
✔2 or 3 eggs (depending on size)
Heat the water, milk, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan.
Add the flour all at once, mixing well to dry out the dough for 2 to 3 minutes.
Then gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each egg.
Poach the choux pastries in two different sizes on a baking tray covered with a micro-perforated baking mat. Bake at 170°C for 35 to 40 minutes (time may vary depending on oven). Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Chocolate pastry cream
✔300g milk
✔60 g sugar
✔2 egg yolks
✔25 g cornflour
✔50 g milk chocolate
✔10g butter
Heat the milk in a saucepan and mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl.Pour the hot milk over them. Stir. Pour back into the saucepan. Stir until thickened.
Add the pistoles of milk chocolate and stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Remove from the heat and add the butter, cut into pieces. Mix well. Set aside in a cool place.
Assembly
Fill the pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a piping tip.
Make a small hole under each puff and fill with the cream.
Melt the white fondant in a double boiler at a temperature not exceeding 40°C, checking with a kitchen thermometer, and add the milk chocolate. Mix well. Cover the puffs by dipping them upside down in the fondant.
I decorated the cake with crunchy marbles, applied quickly before the fondant hardened, and a gold chocolate star.
