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The Choux pastry (pâte à choux) got this name because it is like a small cabbage (Bruxelle Cabbage). It contains only butter, water, flour, and eggs. The perfect choux pastry has a round shape and doesn’t have a big [punched head], it is hollowed from the inside, and slightly crispy from the outside.
What You Can Make With A Basic Choux Pastry Dough?
The Choux pastry is the base of so many French pastry recipes, like swans, éclairs, Chouquettes, and the Paris-Brest. The fried Churros, from Spain; also the Italian Zeppole dan Giuseppe. From Austrian cuisine, Marillenknödel recipe, which is a sweet choux pastry dumpling, filled with apricots, and cooked in simmering water.
YIELDS: 20-40 Choux Pastries
Ingredients For Choux Pastry
- 100 g flour
- 75 g unsalted butter, diced
- 8 cl water
- 8 cl whole milk
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- A pinch of salt (approx. 1/3 tsp)
The Method Of Choux Pastry
- To make the Choux pastry dough, start by heating in a medium saucepan the milk, water, butter, salt, and sugar, to a full rolling boil, stirring with a wooden spatula.
- Remove the liquid from the heat, and add the flour, in a steady stream.
- Over medium heat, stir vigorously, with a wooden spatula or a whisk, about 5 minutes, until the batter becomes glossy, smooth, and homogeneous.
- When the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, continue to stir quickly, about 2 to 3 minutes, to dry it. When you see the first vapor, stop cooking. At this stage, the batter is ready for adding eggs.
- Remove the dough from the heat, continue to stir, forming a smooth ball. Transfer the dough to a bowl, to cool slightly, then starting to add the eggs, one at a time, wait until completely absorbed before adding another egg, stirring continuously (Use a spatula or an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, but the spatula is better).
- Check the consistency of the choux pastry dough, before adding more eggs, the dough should be smooth, glossy, elastic, firm, and should slide back down, forming a ribbon, but retain its shape if piped, at this stage the dough is ready for piping.
- On a non-stick baking tray, pipe the dough straight away, into the desired shape, using a piping bag fitted with a large nozzle.
- Bake at 425° F, until fully puffed, about 8-10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375° F, and bake 8-10 minutes more.
- Once cooked, prick the base of each choux pastry, to release the steam. Let the choux pastry (pâte à choux) to cool, at room temperature.
- Serve the choux pastry as Profiteroles, Religieuses, Eclairs, Swans, cream puffs, filled with Chantilly cream or as Croquembouche.
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