Pâte á Choux

WARNING: This recipe makes a lot of Pâte á Choux. They’re currently everywhere in my kitchen: A dozen left out for the (not so) occasional snackers in my family, a box packed away in containers, and even more packaged for friends.

 

I’m up to my ears in choux, but I don’t think they’ll last long because they’re so tasty and small. Known for being ridiculously cute and fairly easy to make, I decided to give them a go. They didn’t rise quite as much as I would have liked them to 😦 , but I suspect that using a bit less egg would firm up the dough just enough to make them hold shape the next time I make them (This is taken into account in the recipe below).

 

 

You can dip, fill, stuff….. whatever you choux’s!
Get it.

Anyways, bad puns aside, I decided to use a pastry cream from the Incredible Egg. You can go check that out if you want a standard vanilla custard-y vibe.  This recipe is always a crowd pleaser, so you really can’t go wrong with your choice of filling.

 

 

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Pâte á Choux
Yield: At least 30 (depends on size of choux)

Ingredients:

Choux:
1 stick of butter
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 cup of flour (packed)
1 cup of water
Approx. 4 eggs

Filling:
Any pastry creme recipe (I used this one)
Optional: Melted bittersweet chocolate

 

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Mix sugar into flour.

2. Combine water, butter, and salt in saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium high to high heat. Reduce to medium heat, add the flour mixture, and stir rapidly. The process of the flour absorbing the water will happen very quickly, so keep stirring as the dough forms and some water is cooked off for about a minute. Then remove the saucepan from heat, and let cool for about 3 minutes.

3. Add one egg at a time, stirring thoroughly until combined. As you add the eggs, the dough should become increasingly more glossy. After you add the third egg, be very careful because that might be all you need! The dough should form a “V” shape if you lift your stirring utensil out of the dough and let it fall back into the bowl. You do not want your dough to be too runny, so to play it safe, crack the fourth egg in a small bowl, mix, and only add half at a time to the mixture. If your dough looks like adding the last half will be too runny, stop at three and a half eggs.

4. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and lay parchment paper over it.

5. Spoon your dough into a piping bag, or just a large plastic bag. If using a plastic bag, cut off a small piece of lower corner (remember you can always cut more but never less!). Pipe your dough as big as you want your choux onto the parchment paper. Put in oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes. To ensure your choux rises as much as possibly, avoid opening your oven for the first 20-25 minutes.

6. Once your pâte a chouxs are out of the oven, wait until they are completely chill and fill and decorate with filling and topping of your choice! Once again, I used vanilla pastry cream, and melted chocolate with a little coconut oil to drizzle on top. Serve and enjoy!