Name: Religieuse
Prep time: 55 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 125 ml water; 125 ml whole milk; 110 g butter; ½ tsp fine sea salt; 1 tsp caster sugar; 150 g plain flour; 4 eggs; 600 ml whole milk; 5 egg yolks; 120 g caster sugar; 50 g cornflour; 150 g dark chocolate, chopped; 30 g butter; 400 g fondant icing; 3 tbsp cocoa powder; 2 tbsp water; 150 g butter, softened; 200 g icing sugar; 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Religieuse

A large choux bun with a small one on top, both filled and glazed, finished with a collar of buttercream. Meant to look like a nun, hence the name.

1 hr 30 min total Serves 8 servings Hard

The buns are filled before they are glazed, never after — a glazed bun cannot be pierced without cracking the fondant, and the hole would show. The fondant needs to be warmed only to about 35°C / 95°F: any hotter and it loses its shine and sets dull and streaky. Dip rather than spoon, and let the excess run off for a few seconds before turning the bun upright.

Religieuse: Step by Step

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Make the choux paste: boil the liquids with the butter, salt and sugar, beat in the flour, dry it 2 minutes over the heat, cool, then beat in the eggs.
Pipe 8 large buns and 8 small ones onto lined trays. Bake at 200°C / 400°F for 20 minutes, then 170°C / 340°F for 15 minutes, until dark and completely dry. Cool.
Make a pastry cream with the milk, yolks, sugar and cornflour. While hot, beat in the chocolate and butter until smooth. Cool with film on the surface.
Pierce the base of each bun and pipe the chocolate cream in until heavy.
Warm the fondant with the cocoa and water to 35°C / 95°F — no hotter, or it dries dull.
Dip the top of each bun, let the excess run off, and set upright.
Beat the butter, icing sugar and cocoa to a smooth buttercream. Sit each small bun on a large one and pipe a collar of buttercream around the join.

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Worth Getting Right

Fill before glazing, always.
Fondant at 35°C / 95°F. Hotter and it sets dull.
Bake the buns dry or they collapse when filled.

Serve It With

Coffee · A cold glass of milk · More coffee

Leftovers and Storage

Refrigerated for 24 hours. The unfilled buns freeze for a month.

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Vegetarian