Pâte à Choux

Choux paste — cooked on the stove, risen by steam alone

Category
Basics
Cuisine
French
Serves
About 24 puffs
Time
1 hour
From
Phil Price

pastrychouxeggs

The strangest dough in the repertoire: cooked in a pan before it is baked, raised by steam rather than any leavening, and the basis of profiteroles, éclairs, gougères, churros and Paris-Brest.

Two rules. Dry the paste properly on the stove, and add the eggs by feel rather than by count — flour and egg size vary, and the finished paste should fall from the spoon in a slow V.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water (or half water, half milk for a softer crust)
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 4 to 5 large eggs, beaten, at room temperature

Instructions

  1. Combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil, making sure the butter has melted before it boils.
  2. Take off the heat and add all the flour at once. Beat hard with a wooden spoon until it forms a smooth ball.
  3. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring and pressing the paste against the pan, for 2 to 3 minutes. A thin film will form on the base of the pan and the paste will smell faintly of cooked biscuit. This dries it out and is what lets it take more egg.
  4. Transfer to a mixer bowl and beat on low for a minute to cool it to about 140°F — hot enough still to work, cool enough not to scramble the eggs.
  5. Add the beaten egg a little at a time, beating fully between additions. Stop when the paste is glossy and falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon that holds a V. You may not need all the egg.
  6. Pipe onto lined trays. Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350°F and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more, until deep golden and light.
  7. Pierce each puff with a skewer and return to the switched-off oven for 10 minutes to dry the insides.

Notes

  • Do not open the oven in the first 20 minutes. They will collapse and will not rise again.
  • Underbaked choux goes soft within the hour. Bake them darker than feels comfortable.
  • Fill with Crème Pâtissière for profiteroles, or add grated Gruyère to the paste for gougères.