Bembum Kithcen

Choux Pastry or Pate A Choux (French: [pat a ʃu]) is a delicate and the most versatile French Pastry that everybody loves.

The essential ingredients are Butter, Water, Flour and Eggs.

The signature feature is the hollow center that forms when baked. It’s perfect to fill with Pastry Cream, Jam, Curd or even Ice Cream 😘

Instead of a raising agent, this dough is dependent on the steam created from the liquid content and the heat that expands and stretches the dough into beautiful hollow shapes just waiting to be filled or eaten as is!

The key to Choux Pastry is looking for the right texture to know that enough egg has been added and NOT opening the oven during the baking process.

If the eggs are not enough, the dough will be too thick, difficult to pipe and won’t rise perfectly; on the other hand, if use too many eggs, it will be too runny and become flat when baked.

The number of eggs depends on the egg size, flour absorption and the humidity in your kitchen on any given day.

DO NOT OPEN the oven door when the dough is baking, especially in the first 30 minutes until they are a deep golden brown or it may collapse as the structure is still unstable

In this recipe, I will share with you a few tips to make this multipurpose dough along with filling and decorating options.

Once you understand the basic technique, you can make everything from irresistible Cream Puffs, Eclairs, Profiteroles or even Paris-Brest.

Let’s Talk about choux PASTRY ingredients

• FLOUR – All-Purpose or Bread Flour works well for Choux Pastry
  Bread Flour produce thicker, sturdier shell and more visible shape; while using All-Purpose Flour produce a softer shell.
  After years of experimentation, combining the two flours yielded the best results; the Choux will produce large, sturdy pockets with visible shape but still soft inside.
• FAT – You can use either Margarine, Unsalted Butter or Salted Butter There is not much different. If you prefer Margarine, make sure you choose a good quality one.
• LIQUID – You can use just Water or a combination of Milk and Water.
  Milk gives a nice aroma and color to the Choux shell.
• EGGS – Use fresh room temperature eggs for best result
  If your eggs are too cold, you will have trouble incorporating them into the dough.
• SUGAR – Traditionally NO Sugar was added, but it does make the Choux Pastry shell more flavourful and enhances browning.
• SALT – Salt is use for flavouring, avoid using coarse salt. Omit salt if you use Margarine or Salted Butter.

Once its baked, you can store in a freezer bags and freeze them.
Then when you need it, re-crisp the Choux directly from frozen, baking in the preheated 170°C fan oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until hot to the touch.

And the good thing about this dough; You can freeze them before baking.

Pipe them on baking pan (lined with parchment paper) and freeze. They will harden like a rock, store in a freezer bag, put in the freezer.
When you need it, bake from frozen according to the same baking times and temperatures as called for in this recipe.

For the filling, one of my favourite is Cream Patissiere or Pastry Cream. A delicious custard filling which is adaptable and delectable. It’s easy to change the flavor of this custard to make your own creations.

There are endless possibilities !!

Something I usually do for my dinner parties; take it to the next level !!
I cut the cooled Choux in half, fill it with a small scoop of my favourite ice cream
Pipe some Chantilly Cream on top, put the top back on and store in the freezer until ready to eat.

Then when it’s ready to serve, I will poured some warm chocolate sauce on top 😂

And I promise you, they are so delicious !!

Hopefully this video can build your confidence in making Choux Pastry 😚
LOVE you ALL !!! ❤️

WATCH HOW TO MAKE “CHOUX PASTRY 101”

TIPS FOR SUCcESS for making choux pastry (PLEASE READ FIRST):

• Use fresh room temperature eggs for best result
  If your eggs are too cold, you will have trouble incorporating them into the dough
• It is important that the butter is at room temperature and cut into small cubes, so the liquid doesn’t boil for a long time while it melts (this can cause too much water to evaporate and can affect the final texture)
• When you cook the liquid mixture, make sure it reaches full boiling point otherwise it will not come together into a smooth ball (it will look like oatmeal)
• Avoid adding the eggs before the cooked mixture has cooled or you will end up with scrambled eggs
• Add eggs one at a time
  Fully incorporating each egg before adding the next and check the consistency after you have added 4 eggs
  If the eggs are not enough, the dough will be too thick, difficult to pipe and won’t rise perfectly; on the other hand, if use too many eggs, it will be too runny and become flat when baked
• DO NOT OPEN the oven door when the dough is baking, especially in the first 30 minutes until they are a deep golden brown or it may collapse as the structure is still unstable
• Once it’s baked, remove from the oven and let it cool completely before filling

RECIPE

CHOUX PASTRY 101
Yield: Makes about 20 Cream Puffs or 30 Eclairs

INGREDIENTS
❄️ Choux Pastry Dough
180 g Water
180 g Whole Milk
150 g Salted Butter (cubes, room temperature)
1½ tsp Sugar
3/4 tsp Salt (omit if you use Salter Butter or Margarine)
45 g Bread Flour
180 g All-Purpose Flour
4-5 Eggs (large)

❄️ Pastry Cream
85 g Egg Yolk
75 g Sugar
22 g All-Purpose Flour
15 g Corn Starch
90 g Whole Milk
360 g Whole Milk
21 g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
15 g Sugar
1½ tbs Vanilla Extract or 3/4 tbs Vanilla Paste or 1½ Vanilla Bean

Flavour Combination:
– Chocolate: Add 80 g Dark Chocolate (chopped) in the end of cooking
– Fruit: Let the pastry cream cool completely, then add fruit puree or jam (start with 3 tablespoons)
– Coffee: Add 1½ tablespoon of Instant Expresso Powder to thickening ingredients at the begining

❄️ Chantilly Cream
240 g Heavy Cream
20 g Icing Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Gelatine Powder
1½ tbs Cold Water
1½ tbs Boiling Water

❄️ Chocolate Sauce
85 g Dark Chocolate (chopped)
120 g Heavy Cream

INSTRUCTIONS
❄️ Choux Pastry Dough

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C fan/ 190°C/ gas mark 5
2. Prepare the pan in advance (lined with parchment paper) and weigh all the ingredients before starting to make the dough
   Pipe a small dots of the batter in the corners to glue the parchment paper to the pan so it doesn’t move around
3. In a medium saucepan, combine Water along with Milk, Salted Butter and Sugar
   Cook over medium heat, stirring as needed until they come to a full boil and the butter is melted (take it off the heat as soon as full boil is reached)
4. Add both flour all at once and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until a ball of dough forms
5. Once you reach this smooth ball, turn the pan back to medium heat and stir continuously for 30 seconds to 1 minute until a slight film covers the bottom of the pan (this dries out the dough a little and also cooks off any flour flavour)
6. Then transfer the dough to a clean large bowl, spread the dough around the sides of the bowl and let it cool for a few minutes until no longer hot (avoid adding the eggs before the mixture has cooled or you will end up with scrambled eggs)
7. Once it’s cooled, add 4 eggs first (one at a time); fully incorporating each egg before adding the next
   Use a wooden spoon or spatula stir the mixture (I found using a hand mixer and spatula is the best and least tiring way) Kindly use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for a large batch.
   The dough will look separated and then come together as you continue to mix it
8. Check the consistency after you have added 4 eggs
   To test, scoop up a large amount of dough, turn the spatula to the side and wait for the dough to fall, it should be take about 5 to 10 seconds to drop;
   If the dough still seems thick and it doesn’t fall, add just a little beaten egg at a time and test until you reach the right texture
9. There are 3  important things to look for to know that your Choux Pastry is ready:

FIRST, the dough looks shiny

SECOND, is the V test (when it is the right texture, it will fall in a define point known as a bird’s beak like this)

THIRD, to make sure that our mixture is not too runny is to take your finger and draw a trench, if it holds that’s means it’s ready

9. Once the dough is ready, pipe the dough into the desired shape (kindly watch the video for complete instuctions)
10. Then you can dip your fingers into water, using wet fingers pat down any points or help form your piped shapes into better mounds
11. Once it’s done, bake in the preheated 170°C fan/ 190°C/ gas mark 5 , on the middle rack for 40 minutes
DO NOT OPEN the oven door when the dough is baking, especially in the first 30 minutes until they are a deep golden brown or it may collapse as the structure is still unstable (so if you have small oven, bake only one pan at a time; the remaining dough can be sit in a piping bag until the oven is free)
12. Once it’s baked, remove from the oven and let it cool completely on the cooling rack before filling

❄️ Pastry Cream
(make sure you follow the steps carefully, adding the ingredients in this order will prevent lumps)

1. For the thickeners
   In a medium bowl, beat the Egg Yolks and 75 grams of Sugar vigorously for 30 seconds or until the color of the mixture brightens slightly
2. Add in the All-Purpose Flour and Cornstarch, stir well until there are no lumps
3. Then slowly pour 90 grams of Whole Milk and mix again until smooth (milk will loosen up the mixture, making it easier to incorporate with the pastry cream liquids later), set this aside
4. Then, in a medium saucepan, combine the 360 grams of Milk along with Unsalted Butter, 15 grams of Sugar and your choice of Vanilla Flavoring (the small amount of sugar will keep the milk from scalding)
   Cook over medium heat, stir once or twice to help the sugar dissolve
   When it comes to a simmer, take it off from the heat; and slowly pour this mixture into the egg yolk mixture while whisking (this is called tempering the eggs, bringing both mixtures to the same temperature so the eggs won’t cook)
5. Pour the mixture back to the saucepan, increase the heat to medium high and whisk strongly for several minutes
6. When the mixture start thickens and boils, whisk for an additional 30 seconds
   It is very important to whisk while the mixture boils for 30 seconds or your Pastry Cream might not set (sometimes it’s hard to see the boil unless you stop whisking for couple of seconds to look for big plops coming to the surface)
7. Once you see that the texture is really smooth and thick like a pudding, take it off from the heat (if you don’t see any little bits or lumps, there’s no need to strain out)
   Pour into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, touching the surface of the Pastry Cream (this helps it cool faster and prevent skin from forming on top)
8. Chill until cold about 1 hour
9. If you want to make the Chocolate version, simply add chopped bittersweet, semisweet or milk chocolate to the hot Pastry Cream right after you finish cooking it and whisk until smooth
10. Once it’s cooled, you will find the texture is like jelly
    Whisk by hand just until it’s smooth, this only takes a minute (DON’T whisk too long, you can loosen the firm structure too much and it might start to get runny)
    

❄️ Chantilly Cream

1. Simply mix Heavy Cream along with Icing Sugar and Vanilla Extract over an ice bath
   Whip at high speed until the mixture is at medium-firm peak, set aside
2. Then in a small bowl, bloom the Gelatine in Cold Water, let stand for about 5 minutes
3. After 5 minutes, add Boiled Water to the Gelatine mixture, stir to dissolve
   And pour immediately into the Cream, mix well (Gelatine mixture acts as a stabilizer so that the cream is more stable)
   

❄️ Chocolate Sauce

1. Chop the Dark Chocolate into small pieces so it will be easier to melt and combine, then place in a heatproof bowl
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the Whipped Cream until it starts simmering and pour it all in one go over the chopped Chocolate
3. Let is sit for a couple minutes for the chocolate to start to melt, then whisk until it come together into a thick, glossy chocolate sauce
   If you have a chocolate pieces that haven’t melted, gently warm in a Microwave or place the bowl on top of a saucepan of steaming water to make a double boiler
4. This Chocolate Sauce can be used as an icing, letting it cool to spreadable consistency on Eclairs or you can also drizzle it over a Cream Puffs as topping or garnish
   

METHODS TO FILL CHOUX PASTRY
First Method

1. Using a chopstick or skewer, punch a hole in the bottom of the Cream Puff or 3 holes in the bottom of Eclair
2. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a 5 mm round piping tip
3. Press to fill
4. When the shell feels heavy and a little bit comes out the hole, it’s full
5. Wipe off any excess with clean finger
6. And to finish, you can dust the top with icing sugar just before serving or dip to coat the top with chocolate sauce

Second Method

1. Cut the Cream Puff or Éclair in half with a serrated knife
2. Fill the base with delicious filling or if you like berries, that’s also a great choice
3. Place the bit that was cut off on top as a little hat or enjoy it as a snack
4. To finish brush or drizzle chocolate sauce on top and sprinkle with some rice chocolate or shavings
5. If you want Ttake it to the next level
   I usually cut the cooled Choux in half, fill the base with a small scoop of my favourite ice cream; Pipe some Chantilly Cream on top
   Put the top back on; And store in the freezer until ready to eat
    Then when it’s ready to serve, I will poured some warm chocolate sauce on top (yummy!!) 🥰
   

NOTES

1. You can freeze the unbaked Choux Pastry Dough before baking
   Pipe them on baking pan and freeze, they will harden like a rock
   Store the frozen dough in a freezer bag, put in the freezer
   When you need it, bake from frozen according to the same baking times and temperatures as called for in this recipe
2. Once the Choux Pastry shells is baked, store unfilled shells at room temperature for up to a day, or in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month.
   Then when you need it, re-crisp the shell directly from frozen, baking in the preheated 170°C fan oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until hot to the touch
3. Once the sheells filled with cream, Choux Pastries should be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days (but it taste best eaten within a day or two).
4. Pastry Cream can be made 3 to 5 days in advance, depending on the expiration date of your milk.