Lemoncello Gateau St Honore

I have conquered my second attempt at a gateau st honore. This version features a rough puff pastry base topped with two rings of choux paste, lemon curd, caramel dipped choux buns filled with lemon crème patisserie, lemoncello whipped cream and candied lemon zest.

The puff pastry rose incredibly, much more than expected, with wonderful layers. It is light and crisp. The choux are well puffed and dried out with a deliciously lemony crème patisserie filling of a perfect consistency. I did have to make two batches of choux as the first weren't piped quite right and were a bit wonky; I think I need to practice my bun piping skills a bit more! The cream has a delicate lemoncello flavour which is all it needs to compliment the other flavours. I managed to master my candied lemon at last with some that would withstand the 'drop test'. The only criticism I have is that the caramel is a little untidy and a few seconds overdone, but I'm not going to dwell on this as other than that it is fantastic. And, even better, I only managed to burn myself once!