By popular request, we’re tackling a French pastry dough: choux pastry, pronounced shoe pastry. Or, in French, pâte à choux. I learned how to make choux pastry in the French baking class I took earlier this summer. We spent an afternoon diving deep into this versatile classic and I’m sharing everything I learned with you today.
“Choux” means cabbage. The name comes from the resemblance the pastry has to tiny cabbages. When baked, the pastry puffs up with little crinkles and ruffles—pictured above. You can fill choux pastry with all sorts of things: pastry cream for éclairs, pipe dollops and sandwich with whipped cream. The 7 ingredients are staples that you likely have in the kitchen right now: butter, water, milk, sugar, salt, flour, and eggs. Some recipes use all water instead of milk + water, but I find the combination yields a slightly richer flavor and a more tender texture.
Choux pastry is versatile and can be used to make a variety of different baked goods. Some of my favorites are éclairs, cream puffs, and gougeres (cheese puffs).
Here’s how to make it:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter and flour a baking sheet.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in water and milk until just boiling. Add sugar and salt and stir to dissolve. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
3. Transfer mixture to a food processor and pulse until smooth (or you can do this by hand by beating vigorously with a wooden spoon). Add eggs one at a time, processing or beating until each is fully incorporated before adding the next. The dough should be thick but smooth. If it’s too thick, add a little more water 1 tablespoon at a time).
4. Pipe dough onto prepared baking sheet using a piping bag fitted with a star tip (or use two spoons to drop dough by rounded tablespoons). Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up (if they start to brown too much before fully cooked, cover loosely with aluminum foil).
Once the dough is ready, you can use it to make éclairs, cream puffs, gougeres, or any other shape that you like. Pipe the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper using a piping bag fitted with a star tip (I used Ateco #848) and bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.Let cool on wire rack before filling or serving.
cream puffs :
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pipe dough onto prepared baking sheet using a piping bag fitted with a star tip (or use two spoons to drop dough by rounded tablespoons). Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up (if they start to brown too much before fully cooked, cover loosely with aluminum foil).
3. Once the cream puffs are cooled, cut off the top third. Fill with whipped cream, pastry cream, or any other filling of your choice. Replace the top and dust with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.
Gougeres:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Stir in 1/2 cup of grated Gruyere cheese (or any other type of cheese) into the choux pastry dough.
3. Pipe dough onto prepared baking sheet using a piping bag fitted with a star tip (or use two spoons to drop dough by rounded tablespoons). Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up (if they start to brown too much before fully cooked, cover loosely with aluminum foil).
4. Serve immediately. These are best fresh out of the oven but you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or two.
Croquembouche:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pipe dough onto prepared baking sheet using a piping bag fitted with a star tip (or use two spoons to drop dough by rounded tablespoons). Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed up (if they start to brown too much before fully cooked, cover loosely with aluminum foil).
3. Once the cream puffs are cooled, thread them onto a skewer or toothpick. Dip into a simple syrup made with equal parts sugar and water heated until the sugar has dissolved. Roll in chopped nuts of your choice (I used hazelnuts) and place on a serving platter.
To arrange croquembouche make golden spun sugar strings :
1. Heat sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Raise the heat to high and boil without stirring until the syrup turns a light amber color. Remove from heat and dip a fork into the syrup. Let the syrup drip off the fork back into the pan to form strands.
2. Drape the strands over a clean fork or your finger to form a spiral. Place the spirals on top of the croquembouche. Serve immediately.
Choux pastry is a French classic that can be used in a variety of ways. Whether you’re making eclairs, cream puffs, or croquembouche, this versatile dough is sure to impress. So what are you waiting for? Get baking!
To fill éclairs or cream puffs, use a sharp knife to cut them in half lengthwise then pipe or spoon in some pastry cream (recipe below). Sandwich them together with some whipped cream if desired. Enjoy!
Thank you for Visiting !!!
You may like to Read
How to Make Breads: Recipe Post (chocofantasy.in)
We recommend our most popular online class
Chocolate Laces Class – Professional Chocolates,Baking,Cosmetics Classes (chocofantasy.in)
