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choux pastry, dessert, French pastry, pastry cream, recipes, religieuse, religieuse au chocolat, religieuse pastry
Do they really look like nuns? Fat nuns, maybe. Sorry Sister Claire, I didn’t invent the name. The French did. Always the French! They are also to blame for foie gras, by the way. And possibly French fries, the one thing in the world that I love as much as my family.
There’s some debate that they could be of Belgian origin. Doesn’t matter to me, they’re called French fries, so the French should take the blame. For making fries the bane of my diet, and the reason that I find it hard to shed a few pounds. I love them in any shape or form. Thick, thin, long, short, it matters not, as long as they’re potatoes and fried, and there’s ketchup or honey mustard sauce for dipping them in.
Here’s another French creation I can easily use to sabotage my diet. Religieuse. The word means “nun” in French. The pastry is thought to resemble the appearance of a nun, although I find it hard to see. Maybe with loads of imagination. After a few glasses of Champagne.
Make these religieuses, enjoy them with much pleasure, and then if you gain some weight because of them, just blame the French entirely. For always coming up with irresistible, delectable food! You want proof? Béarnaise sauce, their fault. Croissants, their fault. Éclairs, their fault. Macarons, definitely their fault!
Religieuses are not widely available in American pastry shops, at least not where I live, but I first had them in New York, believe it or not. Not in Paris. In Paris, I had my first full-fledged Israeli meal. So, it’ll only be natural that when I finally go to Israel, which I will (right, hubby?), I probably will enjoy my first proper Russian dinner. Just a feeling I have.
Religieuse au Chocolat
For the pastry (pâte à choux)
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) of butter
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine water, salt, and butter. Place over medium-heat and cook just until butter melts.
3. Add all the flour at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms.
4. Continue stirring until dough becomes stiff and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 2 minutes.
5. Scrape the dough into a bowl; let cool for 1 minute. Then add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly between each one, until mixture is smooth and glossy.
6. Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a wide round tip and pipe the dough into rounded mounds on parchment lined cookie sheets. Make 5 bigger rounds (about 2 inches) and 5 smaller rounds (about 1 inch). With a wet finger, flatten and smooth out tops slightly.
7. Bake for 20 minutes (15 minutes for the small ones) or until golden brown. Pierce each pastry with a skewer, near its top, and bake for another 5 minutes. Let cool completely before filling.
For the filling
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream
1. Mix sugar, salt, and flour until well blended.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and the yolk until blended, then slowly whisk in the flour mixture. It’ll become thick and pasty.
3. In a medium saucepan, heat milk just until bubbles start forming around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat and slowly add it to the flour mixture. Return mixture back to saucepan and place over medium heat. Whisk vigorously and continuously until it thickens and comes to a boil. Essentially, you’re making a custard.
4. Remove from heat, strain through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any lumps. I strained mine into a stainless steel bowl set into a bigger bowl filled with crushed ice. You can chill in the refrigerator, if you have plenty of time. It must be completely cold before incorporating whipped cream into it. While custard is chilling, cover it with plastic wrap, placing the wrap directly on the surface of the custard, to prevent skin from forming.
5. Whip the heavy cream until it’s thick and holds a peak.
6. Fold the whipped cream into chilled custard, until thoroughly combined. You’ll get about 3 cups of filling, enough to fill the 10 choux pastries, with leftover.
The chocolate ganache
Scald 1/4 cup of heavy cream, pour over 1/3 cup chocolate morsels/chips. Let stand for 30 second, then stir until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.
To assemble the pastries
1. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip with the filling.
2. Try to find the hole left by the skewer near the top of each pastry, and pipe the cream in. Or make another small hole if you can’t find it.
3. Dip each pastry half-way down into the ganache. Set a small one on top of a bigger one.
4. Decorate with whipped cream, however you like.
Ladurée, of course, makes perfect religieuses. The chocolate one is a must-try. But the pink one is to die for.
Those look so professional! And I can sort of see their resemblance to nuns. :3
Yeah, when I squinted to look at them, I sort of understood why they were thought to resemble nuns, especially the ones with the dark chocolate glaze. But still, the French did have a lot of imagination. Good for them! I enjoy their pastries very much! xoxo, Angie.
How do you store them? Can they be kept in the freezer?
Yes, you can freeze the puffs unfilled for a few weeks. For short-term storage (1-2 days), refrigerator should be fine. Thanks for showing interest, Josie. Good luck!
sinful! I am going to get fat just reading your blog..wow…amazing!
No way, they tasted as light as air, no way they could be fattening! 🙂
This recipe is the sort that best to make with company – that way you don’t find yourself eating the whole batch. I have a longing for one right now!
Lol, you could be right there, Maria. All alone, I could have polished the whole batch! Especially if something good is on TV, I could just sit and watch and eat and not realize how much I’ve consumed! 🙂
if I made these it would definitely be “Nun” for you LOLs..sorry…
I think I just gained 5 pounds looking at them and reading the recipe out loud !
okay I will have to make these, not sure when, but it is one my “cooking” bucket list…
I should Thank you here for sharing, but I will wait to see how much weight I gain ( that was a smile LOLs)
Thank you as always…its always a wonderful ride within your cyber-space moble…
Hope you’re staying warm! and having a great week…
Take Care…You Matter…
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maryrose
Lol…love your quick wit, maryrose! Really, they can’t be that fattening, they tasted so light. It’s like biting into cotton candy, you know, which I’m sure has very few calories, too. Since it tastes as light as air! 🙂
Thanks, maryrose. We’re staying warm and cozy with plenty of hot coffee for me, tea for daughter, hot chocolate for son. We all want different things.Hubby stays hydrated with icy cold soda, even in the winter! XOXO, Angie.
we eat ice cream in Texas in the Winter (only time we can get it home still frozen LOLs…)
well if it is as light as cotton candy , I am so there!
(I’m having hot chocolate, its 33F here )
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We are very excited about this recipe. My high school daughter was given your recipe by her French teacher. They are making these for a group project for class. I will definitely need extra ingredients to have some at home! Since they will have to make a day or two early, I’m guessing the refrigerator is the best storage? Any tips on storage?
Refrigerator should be fine for a day or two. I’m so honored that your daughter’s class is using my recipe for a class project. Please let me know how it turns out. I would love to post a class picture on my blog if you wouldn’t mind sending it to me via my contact email. Thanks Mrs. Bradley E.
I always thought they looked like little Santas myself! If I made them they’d probably look more like nun’s after a horrible accident (which is why I stick to profiteroles!). These look wonderful though, I’m almost tempted to try them (try making them that is, I’m more than tempted to try eating them!)
They are the cutest things, aren’t they? They taste just like profiteroles, of course, or eclairs. They’re essentially the same things. If you can make profiteroles, you definitely can make these, Michelle!
I can just see mine toppling over! You’ve inspired me though, I’m gonna put them on my list to conquer!
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Nice article and pastry. Keep going.
Thanks, Rita! 😘