Pâte á Choux (choux pastry)

NOTES:

1. After baking and before cutting, pastries can be frozen. To reheat, bake at 500 (?).

2. If the pastries are a bit overbaked, that's okay: they will soften when filling is put in them.

3. You can use a handheld mixer to mix egg into dough, using it on low or medium low.

4. For savory dough, add ground pepper, freshly ground nutmeg, and a bunch of gruyere cheese after eggs are combined.

5. Before piping pastry, it sometimes helps to tack down the corners of the parchment paper by using a bit of pastry dough under each corner.

6. To pipe eclairs, use star tip and hold pastry bag at 30 degree angle. Pipe out a 3" strip about 1/2" wide.  They need to be wide enough to poke a hole in the bottom (or at the end) for the filling.  Use water to clean up untidy ends.

7. To pipe cream puffs (savory or plain), use star tip and think "big chocolate kiss." Squeeze pastry out of tube, then stop the pressure, and pull up sharply.

8. Be sure not to twist bag at the tip, only at the top of pastry bag.

9. Moisten fingers with water to "clean up" any unsightly edges of piped pastry.

10. If making cheese puffs, pipe slightly smaller than the cream puffs. Before baking, gently press large pinch of cheese on top.

11. If using more than 2 trays for pastry shells, it should be okay to swap and rotate trays around halfway through the first part of baking (when oven is at 400). Otherwise, avoid opening the oven. You may wish to leave oven on at 400 for 1-2 more minutes before lowering temp.


INGREDIENTS


1-1/4 C water
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 oz) unsalted butter
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup + 2 Tbl bread flour
4 large eggs (not necessary to be at room temp)
pastry bag, with folded-over cuff at top and with bag's tip cut
1/2" plain or star pastry tip (#827)
2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper

*see Notes for making the dough savory.


PREPARATION

Oven to 400.

1. In a medium saucepan combine water, butter, sugar and salt.

2. Bring to a rolling boil.

3. When all the butter is dissolved (you can stir it a bit to encourage that), remove from heat.

4. Add flour and stir until all is absorbed.

5. Return to stove at high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides. There will be a thin film at the bottom of the pan.

6. Put dough in a larger metal bowl and spread out and up the sides to let cool slightly but is still hot, for about 1-2 minutes. You should be able to hold the bowl but it should be uncomfortable to hold for longer than a few seconds.

7. Beat eggs and gradually add and vigorously mix the dough and eggs. It will look like cheese curds or gnocchi at first. Mix until eggs are integrated and add eggs and mix until dropping consistency* is achieved. DO NOT add too much eggs--you might not need all four eggs.

*Dropping consistency: spoon some dough and vigorously tap the side of the bowl to get the dough off the spoon. The right consistency is when the dough forms a V off the spoon after tapping. Look for glossiness too.

8. Spoon into a pastry bag with appropriate tip to pipe out. Do NOT let the dough sit for very long--it will become too stiff to work with after 20-30 minutes (less in a cool environment).

9. Make éclairs, cream puffs, Gougéres, swans, or Paris-Brest with this dough (different shapes).

• To make small eclairs, pipe at 30-degree angle for about 2"-3" long and 1/2" wide; press tip down-and-away to cut off pastry from batter. Allow 1/2" space between piped pastry, but most of the spreading will be upward, not outward. Use moistened finger or back of small spoon to smooth rough-cut edge.
• To make large eclairs, pipe about 5" long (you maybe will need a wider pastry tip)
• To make cream puff or profiterole pastry (puff filled with ice cream), think "chocolate kiss": squeeze out a daub, then stop the pressure and lift up-and-away quickly.  If the tip's opening is too big, it will be hard to pull the batter away
• For cheese puffs, see the Notes
• For other shapes, look online (swan; Paris-Brest; etc)

10. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes; then lower the oven to 350 and watch until golden brown and firm to touch, about 20-25 min.  If using more than 2 trays,  it should be okay to swap and rotate trays around halfway through the first part of baking (when oven is at 400). You may wish to leave oven on at 400 for 1-2 more minutes before lowering temp.

See other recipes for pastry filling and ganache topping.