Choux Pastry (Pâte à choux)
A delicious recipe: Choux Pastry (Pâte à choux)
By Yasmina Ammaturo
Servings: 20
Ingredients
- 36 g Butter
- 48 g Brown cane sugar (Cassonade)
- 48 g All-purpose flour (Type 550)
- 5 g Cocoa powder
- 52 g Milk
- 80 g Water
- 2 g Granulated sugar
- 2 g Salt
- 56 g Butter
- 76 g Pastry flour (Type 405)
- 3 pieces Eggs
- 413 g Milk
- 1 piece Vanilla bean
- 75 g Egg yolks
- 75 g Sugar
- 37 g Cornstarch / Pastry cream powder
- 300 g Butter
- 90 g Praliné
Instructions
- Craquelin:
- First, prepare the craquelin as it needs to go into the freezer. Stir the soft butter with a spatula until smooth. Add the cane sugar. Sift the flour over it and fold it in. Do not overwork the dough. Process into a smooth dough without crumbs. Roll out very thinly (1-2 mm) between two sheets of parchment paper. Place in the freezer. Cut out discs that are slightly larger than or the same size as the choux buns. Place on top of the choux pastry before baking.
- Choux Pastry:
- In a saucepan, melt the butter, milk, water, sugar, and salt over medium heat until the mixture is homogeneous. Bring to a boil. Add the flour all at once. Break up the structure with a wooden spoon and "cook out" (dry) the dough, pressing it flat and spreading it against the sides. It is ready when a white film (skin) forms on the bottom of the pot. Preheat the oven to 210°C (0% humidity). Let the dough cool slightly in a stand mixer. Put the eggs in a measuring cup and add them one by one. After the last egg, turn off the machine, scrape the sides, and check if the dough flows slowly (V-shaped) from the spatula (the "bird's beak" effect / a ribbon that doesn't break). Fill into a piping bag with a 10mm round tip. Use a perforated baking sheet with a silicone mat. Pipe portions of 20-25 g – test on parchment paper or pre-mark with the flour technique (approx. 4 cm diameter). Pipe without lifting and finish with a twisting motion. Flatten slightly with a spoon and hot water, then place the craquelin on top.
- Baking:
- Bake at 180°C for 12-15 min. Once the rising is complete and browning begins, lower the temperature to 160°C and finish baking for another 12-15 min.
- Mousseline Cream:
- 1. Prepare the pastry cream (Crème Pâtissière). Cool in the blast chiller for 5-10 min – it must be lukewarm and at the same temperature as the butter. Briefly whip in the stand mixer to make it smooth, but not too long. Also whip the butter until smooth. Fold the butter into the cream in three portions. Whip for about 2 minutes, then another 2 minutes, and finally for 7 minutes. Add the praliné at low speed. Fill into a piping bag.
- Filling:
- Approx. 45g per piece. Fill using a 4mm round tip. Poke a small hole in the bottom and fill. Alternatively, cut in half and pipe decoratively.