1 x Pastry Cream **

2 c Water

1 c Butter

1 pn Salt

1 1/2 c Flour

7 lg Eggs

1 tb Sugar, powdered, to dust

Almonds, slivered ** See recipe for Pastry Cream. Boil water in a pan with butter and salt. Add flour all at once and beat vigorously until dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Off the heat, beat in eggs, one or two at a time, until incorporated and smooth. Put mixture into a pastry bag and pipe in a circle on a buttered and lightly floured baking sheet. Make another circle just inside the first, and a third on top of the first two. Preheat oven to 375 F. Paint with melted butter and top with almonds. Place it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove and cool on a cake rack. When cool, split horizontally and fill bottom ring with pastry cream. Replace top ring and dust with powdered sugar. Note: The preceding recipe is a basic pate a choux, or cream puff pastry, and it may be used in other recipes. Source: Great Chefs of New Orleans, Tele-record Productions : Box 71112, New Orleans, Louisiana - 1983 : Chef Daniel Bonnot, Louis XVI Restaurant, : Marie Antoinette Hotel, New Orleans