Choux Pastry Swans with Cream are not only delicious pastries but also beautiful to serve.
With just one dough, namely choux pastry or puff pastry, you can create truly delightful pastries.
This time I wanted to prepare the swans.
My family appreciated them greatly for both their taste and the beauty of the final result.
You can’t understand how happy I am, they look so cute, and I had fun cooking and assembling them.
Now it’s time to carefully read these tips because you will find suggestions below for achieving perfect choux pastry.
Make sure to cook the roux, that is, water, butter, and flour, for a few more minutes because if it is not perfectly cooked, it may lead to failure.
Another important tip: pay close attention to the oven cooking; every oven is different, so first, preheat the oven and bring it to the temperature described before baking them, and then, if necessary, bake the swans for an extra minute without any problems.
Another very important step is when the mixture becomes lukewarm, incorporate the eggs this way. Add them one at a time, do not add the next one if the previous one is not completely absorbed.
The dough is ready. The consistency should be smooth, consistent, like a thick and velvety pastry cream.
The swans can be prepared a few days in advance; the important thing is to fill them only at the moment, so the choux pastry does not absorb all the moisture from the cream.
The number of swans obtained depends on the size you give them with the choux pastry.
The swans, in one way or another, please everyone, young and old alike.
A traditional dessert to conclude today’s lunch. You can’t understand how delicious they are.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 6/8
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 147.91 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 7.64 (g) of which sugars 1.72 (g)
- Proteins 2.67 (g)
- Fat 11.99 (g) of which saturated 3.45 (g)of which unsaturated 2.17 (g)
- Fibers 0.18 (g)
- Sodium 81.04 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 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 for Choux Pastry Swans with Cream
- 1 cup water
- 7 tbsps butter
- 4 eggs (medium size, use 3 if large (for safety 200g))
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/4 cups whipping cream (already sweetened)
- as needed powdered sugar (for dusting)
Tools
- Pot
- Piping Bag
- Baking Dishes
- Stand Mixer
- Parchment Paper
- Bowl
- Electric Whisk
Steps for Choux Pastry Swans with Cream
In a pot, pour the water and butter, add a pinch of salt, and place on the stove. Stir until the butter is completely melted.
As soon as it starts boiling, add all the flour and stir with the spoon for a few minutes until the dough forms a compact ball. (You will see a slight whitish layer forming on the bottom of the pot).
Turn off the heat, transfer it to a work surface, and spread it out to cool.
Alternatively, spread it in a bowl and let it cool on its own.
I used a stand mixer, but electric whisks are also fine, “if you don’t have them, a bowl and spoon work well” but you’ll need some energy if you decide to do it by hand.
When the mixture is cold, transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer, and using the paddle at low speed, add the eggs one at a time.
Add the next egg only when the previous one has been absorbed by the dough.
Pay close attention to this phase as the actual amount of eggs may depend on their size, so check after each addition if the next one is really needed.
In the end, you should obtain a soft but compact dough that does not easily detach from the spatula unless with a little flick.
I placed the mixture in a pastry bag with a large star nozzle and formed choux pastries about 4 – 5 inches long on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
Then, in a second baking sheet with the small smooth nozzle, I formed ‘S’ shapes for the necks, trying to give the form to the head and beak.
Bake at 356°F in a convection oven for 25/30 minutes (the time depends on the type of oven).
(Why in two different trays? Because they have two different cooking times, the necks are ready in 7/8 minutes).
Anyway, check their color and consistency.
In the meantime, whip the cream and fill a pastry bag with a star nozzle.
Cut the swans’ bodies in half lengthwise, fill the bottom part with cream, and insert the necks.
With the upper part of the choux pastries cut in half, form the swans’ wings and also insert them into the body (as shown in the photo).
Sprinkle the choux pastry swans with powdered sugar, transfer them to a serving tray, and serve.
Decorate as you like; I had some strawberries and used them, and I must say they were very much appreciated.
Bon appétit.
Tips
If you have a static oven, set it to 365-374°F (always check the cooking anyway) and bake for 20/25 minutes.
The baked swans can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 days, preferably in an airtight container. They tend to soften with the filling, so I recommend filling them at the last moment.
You can also prepare the baked swans and fill them at a later time. In this case, they can be stored in a plastic food bag at room temperature for 1 week, like choux pastries.
They can also be frozen.
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