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 Choux Pastry?
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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