Crispy and deliciously soft and airy on the inside...
This recipe for pâte à choux isn't to be confused with "chouquettes", which are the same preparation but don't have milk. They only have water to make them that little bit more crispy on the outside, more like a chouquette! To make chouquettes, the recipe is here.
Pâte à choux is used for recipes like Saint-Honores (recipe here), religieuses, choux Paris Brest, eclairs, profiterols (cream puffs) and many other patisseries.
It took me years to find the perfect recipe for pâte à choux. I used to use a different recipe and used to do dust the pastry dough with icing sugar and water drops before placing the tray in the oven. But with this recipe, none of that is required, because this recipe is full-proof and has the right measurements to get a crispy, golden and soft on the inside choux.
Instructions:
140 ml water
40 ml milk
80 g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon caster sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
112 g plain flour
3 eggs
Recipe
Place the water + milk + butter + sugar + salt in a saucepan on low heat and leave until the butter is melted.
With a spatula or wooden spoon, add in the flour and mix thoroughly until a dough forms, work the dough in the saucepan for around 2 minutes, to cook gently the flour (this step is really important to get well-risen choux). You want to cook it until the dough starts sticking to the bottom of the saucepan in a really thin layer (in french, this is called a "pellicule").
Take off the heat and at this point, I like to place the mixture into my stand-mixer fitted with the spatula attachment or the paddle but you can, of course, do this by hand. Anyway, add-in, one by one your eggs, mixing really well between each one to get a shiny smooth and silky mixture.
Place into a piping bag fitted with the nozzle of your choice and pipe onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
Bake in the oven at 180°C for 35-40 minutes. Make sure to not open the oven while they are cooking or else they shall deflate and be flat.
Once golden brown, turn the oven off and leave to cool in the oven on a wire rack.
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