Choux Pastry is one of the most popular type of pastry that is used for eclairs and cream puffs. Being a self trained baker, I sometimes find it a little embarassing that I haven't tried many classic recipes at all. Recently Shaon apu ( a baking student of mine) told me she was struggling with this choux pastry recipe and I was kind of wondering if I had even tried it ever and then I realized that I had not. So I tried the recipe one early morning and here is what my take on the recipe.
Total Time
Prep Time: 40 min
Prep Time: 40 min
Baking Time: (active): 55 mins, inactive: 30 mins.
Ready in 3 hours
Yields: 20 mini eclairs/cream puffs.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4-5 eggs ( depending on the size) at room temperature.
Instruction:
- Heat butter, salt and water in a saucepan over medium heat
- When the butter is fully melted, start adding flour ( 1/4 cup at a time).
- Stir continiously until you find the dough forming a liquidy lump that is not sticking to the wall of the saucepan.
- Remove the pan from heat and continue stirring the dough until it is cooled down.Once the dough is cooled, start adding eggs and mix them thoroughly with a wooden spoon. (Do not over mix or the pastry will not puff as you want them to. It is better to break the eggs in a bowl/cup and add them one by one while stirring).
- Pour in a pastry bag with a big round nozzle and pipe like a 4 inches long eclair or you can pipe like a coiled shape that can be baked as cream puffs. Use a wet fingertip to smoothen out any peak after the piping.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes (200 degree Celcius). They are the best when baked fresh right after the dough is prepared. The prepared eclairs/cram puffs can be used after cooling or can be stored in an air tight container for future use.
- You can serve the eclairs with pastry cream and ganache.
