Choux pastries
The choux pastries are one is on the GOAT of the french patisserie. They can be eaten as-is with coarse sugar, or as an eclair. The recipe is simple and delicious, and we will show you how to make the most classic version of it.
Equipment
First, you will need the following equipment:
A spatula
A saucepot
A piping bag with a standard tip
Ingredients
For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
25 cl of water or milk
4g of fine salt
100g of unsalted butter
150g of all purpose flour (T55)
4 à 5 eggs
Optional : 4g of sugar
Steps
Making a choux pastry does not required to be very skilled. However, the difficulty resides in understanding the different textures of our dough. Indeed the first step will be to dry out the dough, before re-hydrating it. Therefore, it will be imporant to observe the signs that will give away the level of hydration of the dough.
1. In a sauce pot, add the water/milk, the salt and the butter. On medium heat, bring to a boil.
2. When the butter has melted, take the saucepot off the stove and add the flour.
3. Mix well using a spatula.
4. Put the sauce pot back onto the stove on medium heat and start drying the dough. To do so, keep stirring the dough with your spatula so it doesn’t stick to the pot and let the water evaporate until you get the desired texture: a dough that will form a ball easily, without sticking to the sides of the pot. To double check, stick the handle of your spatula in the dough. The print left by the handle should not disappear.
5. Transfer the dough in a bowl.
6. Start re-hydrating the dough with the eggs. Add the eggs one by one, mixing well with the spatula between each egg. Re-do until you get the right texture, as shown below.
To check if your dough has the right texture. Take a nice amount on your spatula and let it run down back to the bowl. It should make what we call an “eagle beak” shape at the edge of your spatula.
If you feel like you are really close to the correct texture but that it needs a bit of extra egg, don’t hesitate to add half an egg. Just break the egg open in a different bowl and mix the yolk and the whites well together before adding it to your dough.
7. Transfer the dough in your piping back and pipe your choux on a baking tray covered with parchment paper or a baking mat. You can pick the size you want your choux to be. I like to pipe then in a circle of roughly 4 cm of diameter.
8. (Optional): With a brush, apply some egg yolk on the top of the choux pastry to have a shinier finish. Or add a craquelin on it, to make it crunchier, sweatier and rounder. The craqueling is very easy to make. You can find the recipe here.
9. Pre-heat your oven at 150°C (300°F) and bake for 35-40 minutes. Refrain from opening the oven during that time as it will bring cold draft in and prevent the choux from rising.
10. (Optional) Stuff your choux with pastry cream or whipped cream.
Conclusion
Thank you for following this recipe till the end. We hope you loved it. And as always don’t forget to Have a Bite !
