You will find the religieuse alongside the chocolate, coffee and vanilla éclairs in pastry shops across France, often presented with the same flavors. Made from pâte à choux (choux paste) and most often filled with pastry cream and iced with fondant, these classic French pastries are a delight to the senses. The religieuse, so-named for its resemblance to a nun's habit, is made with two round puff pastries, the smaller one affixed on top of the larger one, which is classically decorated with buttercream (the nun's collar).

Religieuse is relatively new and was perhaps first made in Paris, preceded by the éclair, profiterole and croquembouche. The latter two also sport round puffed choux, ready to fill with pastry cream or ice cream. Some recount that Catherine de Medici's chef, Panterelli, made the first choux pastries more than 400 years ago. This light, puffed dough received the name “choux,” meaning cabbage in French, as its appearance after baking looks a bit like cabbage.

Pâte à choux pastries, including the religieuse, function with great versatility. A current trend in modern French pastry seeks to create classics with contemporary twists. Instead of pastry cream, you might try a Chiboust cream with a fruit compote. Pâte à choux combines easily with savory flavors as well, such as Gougères. Try a mushroom duxelle or tomato concassée.

Pâte à choux production is quick and efficient as well as cost effective. Surprise your customers with an innovative or a classic religieuse.

Chef John Kraus, pastry chef and instructor at The French Pastry School at City Colleges of Chicago teaches his students the art of pastry that includes advanced bread techniques. In 2005 and 2006, Chef Kraus was named one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in the United States by a national magazine. For more information on The French Pastry School, visit www.frenchpastryschool.com.

1. Prepare and pipe the pâte à choux into large (1 1/2-in.) and small (1-in.) disks.	2. Bake at 375°F in a deck oven until the dough puffs. Then, lower the oven temperature to 360°F and continue baking.
3. Cool and fill the choux puffs with caramel/chocolate pastry cream.	4. Dip the larger choux puffs into the caramel fondant.
5. Top the larger choux puffs with the small caramel glazed choux, and pipe chocolate ganache around the bottom of the smaller choux puffs.

Caramel/chocolate pastry cream

by Chef John Kraus

INGREDIENTS	LBS.	OZS.	METRIC
Whole milk, fresh	1	1.6	500 g
Cocoa powder, 20-22% fat		0.3	7.5 g
Bourbon vanilla bean pulp, 1/2
Ceylon cinnamon, as needed
Ground cardamom, as needed
Red food coloring, as needed
Sugar		3.5	100 g
Egg yolks, fresh		2.8	80 g
Pastry cream powder		1.1	30 g
Dark chocolate couverture 70%		4.2	120 g
Total appr. wt.	1	13.5	837.5 g

Method: Heat the milk, cocoa powder, scraped vanilla bean pulp, cinnamon, cardamom and a few drops of red food coloring to 176°F (80°C). Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours. Bring the milk mixture back to a simmer and reserve. Caramelize the sugar, and stop the caramel from cooking further by adding the milk mixture. Bring the mixture back to a boil. Combine the egg yolks and pastry cream powder. Add some of the boiling milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture; strain, and then add it back to the boiling milk. Cook for two minutes to remove the starchy flavor. Remove from heat, add the chocolate couverture and mix. Spread the pastry cream on a sheet pan between plastic wrap to keep it from forming a skin. Place the sheet pan in the freezer for seven to 10 minutes allowing it to cool quickly and stop any growth of bacteria. Keep the pastry cream refrigerated.

Caramel/chocolate pastry cream

by Chef John Kraus

INGREDIENTS	LBS.	OZS.	METRIC
Whole milk, fresh	1	1.6	500 g
Cocoa powder, 20-22% fat		0.3	7.5 g
Bourbon vanilla bean pulp, 1/2
Ceylon cinnamon, as needed
Ground cardamom, as needed
Red food coloring, as needed
Sugar		3.5	100 g
Egg yolks, fresh		2.8	80 g
Pastry cream powder		1.1	30 g
Dark chocolate couverture 70%		4.2	120 g
Total appr. wt.	1	13.5	837.5 g

Method: Heat the milk, cocoa powder, scraped vanilla bean pulp, cinnamon, cardamom and a few drops of red food coloring to 176°F (80°C). Cover and refrigerate for 12 hours. Bring the milk mixture back to a simmer and reserve. Caramelize the sugar, and stop the caramel from cooking further by adding the milk mixture. Bring the mixture back to a boil. Combine the egg yolks and pastry cream powder. Add some of the boiling milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture; strain, and then add it back to the boiling milk. Cook for two minutes to remove the starchy flavor. Remove from heat, add the chocolate couverture and mix. Spread the pastry cream on a sheet pan between plastic wrap to keep it from forming a skin. Place the sheet pan in the freezer for seven to 10 minutes allowing it to cool quickly and stop any growth of bacteria. Keep the pastry cream refrigerated.

Chocolate ganache

by Chef John Kraus

INGREDIENTS	LBS.	OZS.	METRIC
Heavy cream, 35% fat		10.6	300 g
Dark chocolate couverture 58%		10.6	300 g
Unsalted butter, 82% fat		1.8	50 g
Total appr. wt.	1	7	650 g

Method: Bring the cream to a simmer. Pour the cream over half-melted dark chocolate. Let sit for one minute, add the butter and emulsify.