Choux Pastry
4oz Butter
1 cup Water
1 cup Flour (Use only High Grade Flour)
3 large Eggs
In a saucepan bring the water (or milk), butter, and sugar to the boil. Add the flour and stir for 4-5 minutes or until mix doesn’t stick to the side of the pan.
Add to a bowl, leave to cool.
Once cool fold the eggs in one at a time, either by hand or by using a mixer, making sure they are incorporated properly before adding the next one.
Drop from a teaspoon, or pipe the desired shape onto a well-greased baking tray (8cm rectangles for eclairs, 5cm circles for cream puffs, 3cm circles for profiteroles). For eclairs drag the tines of a dinner fork down the length of each eclair. The resulting stripes will encourage the eclairs to crack evenly when they bake. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C until golden brown (20 mins approx).
Note: Only use high grade flour. If you use pure flour your choux with come out flat and doughy.
Eclairs, Cream puffs and Profiteroles
Leave to cool and cut each choux in 1/2 then fill with either whipped cream, or
Chocolate ganache – 200g (6 1/2oz) chocolate melted with 90g (3oz) butter or 150ml fresh cream.
Cream Puff Ring (Paris Brest)
The Paris Brest is a wheel shape choux paste cut in 1/2 and filled with creme patisserie flavoured with praline and dusted with icing sugar.
First mark a 24cm circle on the surface of a baking paper lined tray. Then, using a pastry bag, squeeze out a 2cm wide “halo” of choux paste right on top of the circle you’ve outlined. Squeeze another 2cm wide ring of dough adjacent to – and touching – the first. Squeeze a third ring directly over the “crack” between the other two. Bake as above.
To prevent cracking, don’t open the oven door during the early part of baking. If the ring is not dried adequately it will collapse when you take it from the oven.
When cold cut in 1/2 then fill with whipped cream, and dust with icing sugar.
Cheese gougere
Add 50g of grated gruyere or comte to the mix then pipe the ball and sprinkle with a little more cheese before baking.
Those are ideal for finger food or snack with aperitif.
To store the baked Choux Pastry shells
Store in a paper bag for up to 24 hours, or freeze. But if they do go soft you can recrisp them in a 160C oven for 10 minutes.
To freeze – place them on a baking paper lined baking tray. Freeze. When frozen, transfer to a container. Can be frozen up to 6 weeks. Thaw on racks to stop them going soggy. Crisp them in a 160C oven 10 minutes before using.
An adaption of Laurent Loudeac’s recipe. Laurent trained in classical French cuisine in the Loire Valley, and can now be found at the Hippopotamus Restaurant, Wellington.