What is Pâte à Choux?
“Choux” means cabbage and “pâte” means paste. So, in other words, cabbage paste.
The name comes from the resemblance the pastry has to tiny cabbages. When baked, the pastry puffs up with little crinkles and ruffles and looks a lot like….. Little cabbages!
Choux has the reputation for being difficult, but it’s surprisingly simple. Master this easy recipe and you can make many pastries most bakers are scared to try. Pipe logs and fill with pastry cream for eclairs, pipe dollops and sandwich with whipped cream or ice cream for cream puffs and profiteroles, mix it with cheese and herbs for savory gougères, deep fry it for churros, French cruller donuts, choux beignets… you can do a lot.
We are going to start with Profiteroles and Cream Puffs.
TWO SIMPLE RULES FOR CHOUX PASTRY:
Stick to the ingredients and measurements.
Don’t open the oven while it bakes.
Seriously. Follow the recipe and keep the dang oven closed and no one gets hurt.
Choux pastry comes together in about 10-15 minutes. Most of the ingredients are cooked together on the stove; this initial cooking causes the starch in the flour to gelatinize, which will help the pastry hold onto steam and puff up. The Spruce Eats has an interesting article explaining the science of choux pastry if you’re into that!
Before we get into exactly HOW to make Pate a Choux, here’s a trick you have to remember: before you pipe the dough onto parchment paper, moisten it with water. Why? Think of cheesecake. We bake cheesecakes in a water bath, right? Cheesecake, like choux pastry, is egg-heavy. Eggs need a moist and humid environment in the oven to (1) properly rise and (2) avoid drying out and burning.
Water moistened parchment paper = perfectly puffed up pastries with a deliciously light center and crisp exterior. Pastry perfection. Don’t moisten the parchment? Burnt pastry. Sad, lonely chefs, dying alone… their pastries were not enticing enough to earn them a spot in romantic heaven.
Profiteroles and Cream Puffs are pretty basic things – but they can form the basis of some truly amazing deserts. And they are an easy place to start your Pastry Journey.
RECIPES
Pâte à Choux Profiteroles or Cream Puffs
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces,
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup 2% or whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour spooned & leveled
- 4 large eggs beaten
For Egg wash
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 Tablespoon milk or water
Instructions
Cook the Pate a Choux
- Combine the butter, water, milk, salt, and granulated sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted. Bring mixture to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low and add the flour all at once. Stir until the flour is completely incorporated and a thick dough clumps into a ball. Mash the dough ball against the bottom and sides of the pan for 1 minute, which gently cooks the flour. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Allow to cool down for a few minutes before adding the eggs in the next step.
Add Eggs to the Pate a Choux
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the eggs in 3-4 separate additions mixing for 30 seconds between each. The mixture will look curdled at first, but will begin to come together as the mixer runs. Pour in the final addition of beaten eggs very slowly. Stop adding when the choux pastry has reached the desired texture: shiny, thick, and smooth with a pipeable consistency. It is normal to have a few teaspoons of beaten egg behind, which can be used with the egg wash.
Bake the Pate a choux
- For cream puff and profiterole shells: Preheat oven to 400°F. Line two half sheet panswith parchment paper. Lightly brush the parchment with water, which creates a humid environment for the pastry shells allowing them to puff up without drying out or burning.
- Transfer choux pastry dough to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe 2-inch mounds about 3 inches apart. Using a water moistened finger, smooth down the peaks and lightly brush each with egg wash.
- Bake for 20 minutes then, without opening, reduce oven to 350°F (177°C) and continue to bake for 10-15 more minutes until golden brown. Do not open the oven as the pastries cook, as cool air will prevent them from properly puffing up. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before filling.
- Split open pastries and fill with pastry cream, jam, a combination of these, or your favorite filling. You can also poke a hole in the pastries and pipe the filling inside. Drizzle with a thin chocolate ganache if desired
- Cover and store leftover filled pastries in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Cover and store unfilled pastries at room temperature for 1 day, in the refrigerator for 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before filling and serving.
Gougères
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 stick 4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- Large pinch of coarse salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 3 1/2 ounces shredded Gruyère cheese 1 cup, plus more for sprinkling
- Freshly ground pepper
- Freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 half sheets with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Add the flour and stir it in with a rubber spatula until a smooth dough forms; stir over low heat until it dries out and pulls away from the pan, about 2 minutes.
- Scrape the dough into a bowl; let cool for 1 minute. Beat the eggs into the dough, 1 at a time, beating thoroughly between each one. Add the cheese and a pinch each of pepper and nutmeg.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip and pipe tablespoon-size mounds onto the baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 22 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Serve hot, or let cool and refrigerate or freeze. Reheat in a 350° oven until piping hot.
Notes
Gougères freeze well. After baking, allow them to cool completely. Spread the gougères out on a baking sheet, cover the sheet with plastic wrap and freeze them until they are firm. Then store them in sturdy plastic bags for several months.
A Little History
According to some cookbooks, a chef by the name of Pantarelli or Pantanelli invented the dough in 1540, seven years after he left Florence as chef to Catherine de’ Medici and her court. He used the dough he invented to make a gâteau and named it pâte à Pantanelli. Over time, the recipe of the dough evolved, and the name changed to pâte à popelin, which was used to make popelins, small cakes made in the shape of a woman’s breasts. These were made from dough that had been dried over a fire, called pâte à chaud.
Later on, Avice, a pâtissier in the eighteenth century, and his boss Antoine Carême made modifications to the recipe, resulting in the recipe most commonly used now for profiteroles.