Choux pastry or pastry for cream puffs is simple to prepare at home to get beautifully puffed cream puffs that you can fill with your favorite creams. Normally, I fill them with sweet creams, which is why I bake them with a bit of sugar sprinkles and serve them perhaps dusted with powdered sugar, but left plain they are a neutral dough suitable for savory fillings for your most refined appetizers.
For an excellent choux pastry, it is essential to cook the flour well and wait for the dough to detach properly from the edge of the saucepan, mixing vigorously with a wooden spoon while it is still on the fire. Another fundamental step to obtaining perfect choux pastry is to wait until the cooked dough in the saucepan is completely cooled before adding the eggs. The eggs, to obtain perfectly puffed cream puffs, must be added one at a time, waiting for the previous one to be completely absorbed by the dough, and since eggs often vary in size, I suggest adding the last egg in several steps because if it is too much and risks making the dough too liquid, I suggest not adding it entirely.
The last important tip for the success of your choux pastry is to bake only when the oven has reached the right temperature and never open the door to check the baking before at least 15 minutes have passed.
After these little recommendations, all that remains is to try because I guarantee you will get an excellent result.
Here are some suggestions for creams suitable for filling your cream puffs
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 16
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: French
- Energy 80.52 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 6.13 (g) of which sugars 1.71 (g)
- Proteins 2.66 (g)
- Fat 5.17 (g) of which saturated 3.09 (g)of which unsaturated 2.05 (g)
- Fibers 0.14 (g)
- Sodium 68.71 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 36 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2.82 oz water
- 3.53 oz milk
- 2.47 oz butter
- 3.53 oz all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
- as needed sugar sprinkles (optional)
Tools
To prepare excellent choux pastry, I recommend using a stand mixer with a leaf hook because a lot of strength is needed to aerate the dough while inserting the eggs. Alternatively, use a good electric whisk.
- 1 Saucepan Aeternum
Preparation
In a saucepan, bring the water, milk, and butter to a boil; when it starts boiling, pour in the flour all at once and stir well with a wooden spoon on the heat until it becomes a single dough that sticks to the spoon and completely detaches from the edges of the saucepan (it will only take a few minutes). Turn off the heat and transfer the dough to the stand mixer.
When the dough has cooled down, add the pinch of salt and start mixing at medium speed; add the whole eggs one by one, making sure not to add the next one if the first is not completely absorbed and the dough has returned to being compact, this is a crucial step for the success of the cream puffs. As previously mentioned, the last egg may not be needed entirely because the cream puff requires a compact dough that comes out of the pastry bag but holds its shape when placed on the oven tray, a bit like meringues for understanding.
Now, with the help of a pastry bag with a star nozzle, shape your cream puffs on the oven tray covered with parchment paper, being careful to keep them apart as they will grow; I love to sprinkle them with sugar before baking because the dough does not contain sugar, but it is not necessary, especially if you want to use them for an appetizer with savory creams.
Finally, bake in a preheated oven at 392°F for 15/20 minutes, taking care not to open the oven for ANY reason unless at least 15 minutes have passed; before taking them out, check that the surface is nicely golden so they will remain crunchy even after filling.
NOTES
Choux pastry can be filled with sweet creams as I suggested, but it can also be used with savory creams for excellent appetizers and buffets.
I suggest keeping your already filled cream puffs in the refrigerator without covering them with plastic wrap so they remain nicely crunchy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why aren’t they puffed?
The cream puff may not puff well if, as stated in the recipe, the eggs are not mixed well into the cold dough or if the oven has not reached the appropriate temperature beforehand, and finally, they may not be sufficiently cooked.
Can they be preserved empty?
They can be kept for a few days in a tin box or can be frozen and filled as needed.
