Choux pastry: the basic pastry recipe for making cream puff pastry

The cabbage pastealso called puff pastry, is a basic recipe of french pastry It is used to make cream puffs, éclairs, and profiteroles. It is made with a few simple ingredients, that is, water, flour, butter and eggs, and its peculiarity is due to double cooking: the dough is cooked first in a pot and then in the oven (hence it would have taken the name hot doughor “hot pasta”).

dal neutral taste and with a light and delicate consistency, it can be filled with both sweet and savory creams. It is famous above all for the creation of puffs, in fact, small balls with a round and frosty shape reminiscent of Brussels sprouts (hence the name choux which means “cabbage”).

In fact, there are many preparations in which it can be used: from San José zeppole to churros, from croquembouche to Paris-Brest, choux pastry can give life, with small variations, to greedy desserts and haute pastry. In this case we will make delicious little balls that, with a tender and brittle shell, can be filled to taste with pastry cream, Chantilly chocolate ganache or the filling of your choice.

Processing choux pastry is quite simple, but it is important to pay attention to few rules: first of all the eggs must be at room temperature and not cold from the fridge; the flour should be weak, like the classic 00; also, the mixture must be very cold before adding the eggs. The latter, then, must be incorporated little by little: the consistency, in fact, must be very firm and not runny.

Once cooked, the cream puffs should be crunchy and not chewy, lightly browned and perfectly hollow inside, just as French tradition dictates.

Find out how to do it by following the step-by-step procedure and tips.

how to make choux pastry

Take a heavy-bottomed saucepan and pour water into it. 1.

Add the butter, cut into thick cubes, and the salt 2.

Put on the fire and melt everything bringing it to a boil 3.

As soon as the butter has completely melted and the mixture is about to boil, pour in all the flour in one go. 4.

Mix quickly with a hand mixer 5.

Continue working the dough with a wooden spoon: when it detaches from the sides of the pot and forms a ball, it means it’s ready. 6. The dough must be well cooked, otherwise there is a risk that the result will be too liquid.

Now turn the dough out onto the work surface. 7.

Crush the mass well so that it cools quickly. 8.

When the dough is lukewarm, transfer it to a glass bowl. 9.

Add the eggs, one at a time. 10.

Add the first egg and mix well until completely absorbed eleven.

Proceed with the following eggs, always repeating the same procedure 12. You will soon realize if it is convenient to add the fifth egg because the choux pastry must be firm like the pastry cream and be able to be inserted into the sac à poche.

Collect the dough in a piping bag 13.

Cut the spout of the sac à poche and fix the parchment paper to the sides with tufts of dough 14.

Then create small locks with the help of the sac à poche fifteen.

Flatten the strands with the edge of a teaspoon, moistened with a drop of water to prevent burning during cooking. sixteen. Bake in a static oven at 200°C for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180°C and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

When lightly browned, remove the custard balls from the oven and allow to cool. 17 and then fill them to your liking.

storage

The cream puffs will keep for approx. 3-4 days in a cool and dry place, closed in a plastic food bag.