choux pastry.

Sorry for the delay in my posts! Life decided to star me in the role of some unnecessary drama. So that knocked me off track for a while. My apologies! But I'm here now. >_>;; And so allow me to introduce to you all to my lovely friend...

 

choux pastry! Which bakes up to be an assortment of tasty treats! It's a truly versatile pastry dough.

You can pipe them into an assortment of shapes and sizes~ bake 'em~

fill them up with your favorite filling~

dip them into a chocolate glaze (recipe included) for some elegant eclairs!

or drizzle a bit of the same glaze over for some sinfully delicious profiteroles!

They may look intimidating to make, but it's fairly simple! Impress friends and loved ones by whipping up a batch of these for tea time or dessert. ^_^

choux pastry.
 (adapted from The Food of France: a journey for food lovers)

we'll need:

1 stick + 1 1/2tbls unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup milk (or water)
2 tbls sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
7 eggs

chocolate glaze*
1 recipe pastry cream filling

utensils:

measuring cups/spoons
2 saucepans (preferably non-stick)
wooden spoon
piping bag or a large freezer bag
parchment paper

>>preheat oven to 375F<<

~Melt the butter with the milk (or water), sugar, and salt in one of the saucepans, then bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and add the flour. Return the mixture back to the heat and beat continuously with the wooden spoon to make a smooth shiny paste that comes away from the side of the pan. Let cool for 3mintues.

~Beat in the eggs one at a time, until the mixture is smooth and shiny (the mixture should drop off the spoon, but not be too runny). Place the piping bag or freezer bag into a tall glass to prop it up and fill with the mixture.** Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe the choux pastry into desired shapes. (or you can spoon dollops of the pastry dough onto the parchment instead) Bake for 25~30minutes until they are puffed and carry a light golden complexion. After removing from oven, prick each of the pastry with a toothpick to allow steam to escape.

*To prepare the chocolate glaze melt together 4oz of your favorite baking chocolate and 2tbls unsalted butter in a saucepan over low heat.
**The choux pastry can be stored in the piping/freezer bag for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.


For profiteroles: split the puffs in half and spoon the pastry cream filling in between. Drizzle or spoon over with chocolate glaze if desired.

 

For eclairs:  Dip half the pastry in the chocolate glaze and allow to harden (15~20mins). Then split them in half lengthwise and fill with pastry cream

Enjoy!