Religieuse is a French

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ...

made of two

choux Choux is a commune in the Jura department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geograph ...

pastry cases, one larger than the other, filled with

crème pâtissière Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency fro ...

, most commonly chocolate or mocha. Each case is covered in a

ganache Ganache (; ) is a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream. Preparation Ganache is a chocolate preparation, normally made by heating equal parts by weight of cream and chopped chocolate, warming the cream ...

of the same flavor as the filling, and then joined decorated with piped buttercream frosting. The pastry, whose name means "

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is ...

", is supposed to represent the papal

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...

. Religieuse itself was supposedly conceived in the mid-nineteenth century, but the first version of the batter was invented in 1540 by Popelini, the Florentine

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a k ...

of the Florentine queen of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...

. After subsequent iterations, the batter finally took its current form in the early 19th century in the kitchens of

Marie-Antoine Carême Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême (; 8 June 178412 January 1833) was a French chef and an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as '' grande cuisine'', the "high art" of French cooking: a grandiose style of cookery ...

, "The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings". Religieuse is a type of

éclair An éclair is a pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with chocolate icing. The dough, which is the same as that used for profiterole, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until it is cris ...

References

French pastries Custard desserts Choux pastry {{dessert-stub

See also

References