Choux Pastry

Ingredients

Equipment

• Medium saucepan
• Stand mixer with paddle
• Instant-read digital thermometer
• Piping bag
• Silicone half sphere mold (buns)
• Silicone donut mold (Paris-Brest)
• Silicone éclair mold, or a star tip nozzle
• Two silicone mats or parchment sheets
• 60 mm and 70 mm round cutters
• Perforated tray and perforated mat
• Wire rack

Method

1. Weigh everything. Weigh each ingredient into its own bowl before you start. The choux moves quickly once it is on the heat.
2. Boil the liquids. Put the water, milk, cold butter, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter melts, then bring it to a boil.
3. Add the flour. Take the pan off the heat as soon as it boils and sift in the bread flour. Whisk it in by hand, then tap the whisk hard on the pan to knock off the dough stuck in the wires.
4. Cook the dough. Put the pan back on medium-low heat and switch to a rubber spatula. Stir constantly for 2 minutes, until a thin film forms on the bottom of the pan. This cooks the starch so the dough has the strength to puff.
5. Cool to 50 to 55°C. Tip the dough straight into a stand mixer with the paddle and mix on low until it cools to 50 to 55°C (122 to 131°F) on an instant-read thermometer. An infrared gun will not read it properly. Warm dough takes the eggs into a smooth emulsion.
6. Add the eggs slowly. Beat the eggs until there are no streaks of white. With the mixer on medium-low, pour them in a little at a time, waiting 20 to 30 seconds between additions; it takes 3 to 4 minutes in all. You may not need all of the egg, so go in very small amounts near the end.
7. Check it. The dough is ready when it is glossy and smooth and falls from the beater in a ribbon. Press cling film onto the surface and leave it at room temperature for 1 hour. You can skip the rest if you are using molds, but it makes the dough much easier to pipe.
8. Pipe into molds. Pipe the choux into silicone molds: the half sphere mold for buns, smoothing the tops with a palette knife; the donut mold for Paris-Brest, filled about halfway; the éclair mold for éclairs, smoothed flat. No éclair mold? Pipe long lines with a star tip onto a lined tray and cut them to length once frozen.
9. Freeze. Freeze until solid, 3 to 4 hours. The choux keeps in the freezer until you need it.
10. Make the craquelin. Beat the soft butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer on medium for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth, scraping down as needed. Add the flour and ground almonds and mix on low until it comes together into a dough.
11. Roll and chill. Roll the craquelin between two silicone mats or sheets of parchment to 3 to 5 mm thick; the shape does not matter. Thicker gives bigger cracks, thinner gives finer ones. Freeze for 30 minutes.
12. Cut the tops. Work quickly, because craquelin softens fast. Peel off the mats and cut: a 60 mm disc for each bun; a ring for each Paris-Brest, cut with a 70 mm cutter and a 12 mm hole in the middle (the end of a small round piping tip works); a 122 × 35 mm rectangle for each éclair, which assumes éclairs about 112 mm long. Lay them on a mat and freeze again.
13. Heat the oven. If you piped éclairs by hand, trim the frozen lines to about 112 mm with a sharp knife. Keep everything in the freezer while the oven heats to 165°C without the fan (330°F). Oven: 330°F / 165°C (145°C fan)
14. Set up the tray. Line a perforated tray with a perforated mat if you have them: air flows evenly and steam escapes, so the choux stays crisp. Parchment on a regular tray works too; silicone mats can make the choux a little soggy. Pop the frozen choux out of the molds and space them out.
15. Top with craquelin. Balance a frozen craquelin piece in the middle of each choux. It is wobbly, especially on the buns, but keep it centred or it will slide off to one side in the oven.
16. Bake. Bake right away for 40 to 50 minutes, for buns, éclairs and Paris-Brest alike. Do not open the oven until they are deep golden, or the steam escapes and they collapse. If they do collapse, they needed longer. Oven: 330°F / 165°C (145°C fan)
17. Cool. Cool on a wire rack. Fill them fresh, or freeze the baked shells and crisp them in a 175°C (345°F) oven for about 5 minutes before using.