Pâte à Choux / Croquembouche

Before we begin…

• You can make your own cream puffs, or just buy them in the grocery store.
• Pâte à Choux is a hollow pastry that is used for éclairs, profiteroles, cream puffs, and gougères. The gougère has cheese in the dough during the last step.
• – éclair = long and thin
• – profiteroles, cream puffs = round
• – gougère = add shredded cheese during step 9

Ingredients to feed 4 people

Step by Step

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F
2. Bring butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in 1 C flour. It should look like mashed potatoes.
5. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, pushing it to the sides, then gathering it back into a ball; until mixture stops sticking to the pan, about 3 minutes. This will cook the flour.
6. Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
7. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. It’s OK if it is warm, just not hot enough to cook the eggs.
8. Whisk together all of your eggs – well mixed
9. Raise speed to medium; add eggs, 1/4 cup at a time, until a soft peak forms when batter is touched with your finger.
   – If peak does not form, lightly beat remaining egg white, and mix it into batter a little at a time until it does.
   – Dough will become gooey and ropey, but will come back together. That is when you will add more egg. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
10. Once you have a firm dough, pipe onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave an inch between each piece.
11. Brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar
12. Cook hot 425º for 12 minutes.
13. Turn the oven temp down to 375º and bake another 20 minutes. Exact time will be determined by the shape and size of your puffs.
14. Bake until the shapes are slightly puffed and golden brown.
15. They should detach easily from the parchment and feel lightweight – kind of like a sponge or hollow egg shell.
16. Leave the oven door closed and turn off the oven.
17. Let them dry out in there for 15-30 minutes more
18. Take one out and break it open.
    – It should not be wet on the inside. If it is, turn the oven back to 350 degrees and bake 5 more minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the door closed – repeating the testing process.
    – If they are not hollow, it means that you used too much flour. There is no recovery. What you CAN do, is dip them in melted chocolate and make a kind of a chocolate doughnut hole.
19. When they have finished cooking, poke the puffs with a toothpick. This will allow steam to escape from the inside, which would make them soggy.
20. Once completely cooled, you can fill them or freeze them for up to three months.
21. If making a Croquembouche, fill them with creme Anglaise, and dip them in white chocolate (melted in a double boiler) or hot caramel sauce. Stack into a tower. If the tower does not seem stable, put it in the refrigerator to set up every couple of layers.

Oh, one more thing…

• Croquembouche is traditionally garnished with glazed/spun sugar, as shown on this Food Networks Recipe.

Notes from Alton:

• Steam pushes the pastry up, creating a cavity – or bubble.
• The cavity can be filled with pastry cream.
• Basically bread flour (for machines), butter, eggs
• Start with 1 C water and 6 TBL butter 1 TBL sugar and pinch of salt
  Leave sugar out for savory puffs – (eg) chicken salad sandwich
• Bring to a boil
• 5 3/4 oz flour – weighed with digital scale and stir vigorously
• Cook until slightly dried, then let cool
• 4 eggs plus 2 egg whites – Add slowly using paddle beater
• Use piping bag to make lazy S shapes – round on both ends
• Preheat oven to 375º
• Use parchment paper
• DO NOT OPEN OVEN and cook for 15 minutes
• Cream puffs – concentric circles about 3-4 inches
• After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350º and cook 10 more minutes
• Pierce side or end to let steam escape
• Cool – refrigerate a week
• FILLING: Pastry cream or vanilla pudding from a box – 3/4 of liquid cause you want thick – smaller tip
• Chocolate coating: 1  C chips and 1 tsp veg oil or melted butter – double boiler
• Put coating on chilled eclaires

Alt: Pipe into hot oil to make funnel cakes