I like to think that I'm adventurous in the kitchen, so I thought I'd challenge myself and make a French staple that I didn't get to try in France: Chouquettes! This was my first time trying my hand at any sort of bread-y pastry--seriously, you guys, not even a homemade pizza dough. Pâte à choux is one of the in-betweeners of the baking world, stuck in the land of not-quite-breads and not-quite-pastries. So for my intents and purposes it's going down in the mange tout dictionary as a "bread-y pastry". In any case, it's delicious and worth the effort. Not gonna lie, it's a pretty hefty task, making homemade pâte à choux---on a scale of homemade pasta to homemade puff pastry, i'd say it lands in the middle, BUT don't be intimidated(!) it's most defenitely doable.
This recipe is originally from this book (which my thoughtful and AWESOME sister gave me for christmas).The book is geared towards, well, "the professional pastry chef", the bakers, the fine people that need batches large enough to fill bakery racks, but the great thing about this book is that it also includes 'small-batch' measurements for every recipe, which work great for any not-so professional pastry chef. And, even greater, I found this post by Beth of A Bread A Day on working with this recipe, which turned out to be immensely helpful on account of her step-by-step guidance and visual aids--due to my insufferable desire for artsy photography for this blog, my visuals are not so aid-y, so feel free to head over to her post for a more detailed visual walk-through.
Pate à choux is the pastry used to make cheese puffs (gougères) and éclairs (... and also these things), I went for making the traditional chouquettes, better know as cream puffs, but not always filled with cream, so just 'puffs'? yes, puffs, filled with almond cream.
It is quite an elaborate production to make these little guys, but trust me, it is so so worth it.
read on for recipe and method
RECIPE:
Pâte à Choux
from The Professional Pastry Chef
4 ounces (about 1 cup) cake flour
5½ ounces (about 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) unbleached bread flour
2 cups water, at room temperature
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups eggs (about 8 or 10 large), lightly beaten, preferably at room temperature
*some tools you'll absolutely need: a sturdy wooden spoon, a stand mixer, a piping bag, and parchment paper
METHOD:
01. first things first: oven prep. preheat to 425˚F and make sure your rack is positioned in the middle. Have your eggs in a spouted measuring cup and have your flours sifted together and ready to go.
02. With your flour mix and a sturdy wooden spoon on hand, bring the butter, water, and salt to a full boil on high heat in a medium saucepan. Once it comes to a boil, (prepare your upper arm muscles and) start adding the flour as quickly as it can be absorbed (but not all at once) whilst continually and vigorously mixing.
03. Once your flour is fully incorporated, reduce to medium heat. If you see doughy flour lumps (which is normal), just break them up along the sides of the saucepan with your spoon and continue to knead and cook your mixture. When the dough starts to form one large mashed-potato-y-looking mass and separates from the sides of the saucepan leaving a doughy coating on the walls of your pan (which will come off easily with a good soak of dish soap and water), it is ready to be transferred to a stand mixer. The whole process should take about 5 minutes.
04. Once in your mixer and before mixing in the eggs, beat at medium speed until the paste cools down to 140˚F. The temperature is pretty important because you want the paste to be warm enough to absorb the eggs well and cool enough to not cook the eggs when you add them in. If guesstimating without a thermometer, the paste should be warmer than lukewarm but not hot and definitely not steaming.
05. When your paste has cooled down, add the eggs two by two at a low speed, incorporating well between each addition. The paste can be runny but not liquid-y, it stiffens only slightly when it cools down completely so if you're iffy on wether to add the last one or two eggs in it's fine to leave them out if your paste is on runnier side. Once your eggs are all in, beat the paste on high speed for another 1-2 minutes until it has a glossy sheen.
06. At this point, the hardest work is done, your dough will be fine sitting for a bit in room temperature and if you decide to be done for the day, it will keep overnight in the refrigerator--if you delay your piping, make sure to store your dough unexposed to air (in a zip-lock bag or in a bowl with cling wrap pressed directly onto the surface of the dough).
07. To pipe out the chouquettes, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat--if you're looking to be extra precise, you can use two sheets of parchment, draw a grid on one (aprox. 1"x1") dark enough to see through the second sheet, which you will place on top)-- fill a large piping bag with the paste, and pipe out small rounds (roughly 1"x1") onto the parchment about 1" apart. Run your fingers under running water (this will make it so that the paste won't stick to your fingers) and pat down any pointy peaks. Also, at this point, you can remove the gridded sheet of parchment from underneath.
08. You can sprinkle your chouquettes with pearl or raw sugar at this point if you'd like, but it's definitely optional.
09. Bake the chouquettes immediately at 425˚F for 10 minutes or until they've puffed up and started getting golden brown. Without opening your oven (now or at any point during baking. Trust me! you don't want flat chouquettes), lower the temperature to 375˚F and bake for at least another 15 minutes. At this point, if they're nice, puffed up and golden brown, they'll be ok to take out of the oven (if they're still pale-ish, leave them in for a few more minutes, its pretty hard to over-cook these). To make sure they're done, pull one out and tear it open- if it's hollow-ish, dry, and steamy on the inside, they're done!
10. Poke each chouquette on the side with a knife to release any excess steam. On her blog, Beth writes that she puts them back in for an extra 5 minutes after this for good measure. I definitely recommend this, just to make sure that your chouquettes will stay nice and puffed up.
11. Once they are completely done, transfer them to a cooling rack aaand... YOU'RE DONE!
+ I filled my chouquettes with almond cream, but really you can fill them with anything from pastry cream to whipped cream to jam.
+Store the chouquettes in an airtight container and they will keep for a few days. They'll get soft after a bit, but just bake them for around 4 minutes ( 5-6 if frozen) at 350˚F to make them nice an crusty again.
+Beth suggests using milk instead of water for a richer dough. I agree.
No comments:
Post a Comment