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.