Pate a Choux

Pate a Choux

Pate a choux (pronounced “paht ah shoe”) is a staple of French pastry and extremely versatile so I’m filing it under basics because I believe every cook should know how to make this basic pastry.  It’s used to make éclairs, profiteroles, and a host of other things.  It can be fried, baked, or even a combo of the two methods.  Not only is it extremely versatile, but it’s also extremely easy.  You just have to take a little care that you don’t put the eggs in while the paste is too hot.  Ok, with that, we’re going to go ahead and make pate a choux.  Oh, and btw, it gets its name from the fact that when you roll it into little balls and bake it, it looks like little cabbages.  ‘Choux’ is French is cabbage.  And ‘pate’ is paste.  So you’re really making cabbage paste.

Ingredients:

500 ml water
250 g butter
400 g flour
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar, a large pinch, but still maybe about 1 teaspoon if I had to put a number to it.

Method:

  1. Put water, butter, salt, sugar into a large pot and bring to a boil.
  2. Stir in the flour quickly and keep stirring until it’s a smooth paste.
  3. Cook for about 5mins to let the paste dry out a little.  You’ll stir it around every few seconds to keep it from burning on the bottom.
  4. Whatever you make with it, pate a choux is usually cooked at high temp.  So about 425-F for about 20mins, but it really depends on how big your pieces are, and how dark you want them.  Good choux is usually medium-dark brown.  So not really light because it won’t be cooked on the inside.  This is a really nice color for choux.

puffed

Notes:

  1. Make extra sure that you don’t add the eggs too soon.  You must cool the mixture down for a few mins first.  If you’ve got it in the mixer bowl and you’re spinning it in the mixer, then you should be able to very comfortably put your hand on the bottom of the bowl and have it not burn you at all.  It doesn’t have to be exactly room temp, but make it as close as you can.  If not, then you’ll cook the eggs.  The paste should be perfectly smooth when you’re finished.
  2. Your choux balls will be hollow so they’re perfect for filling with ice cream, pastry cream, spinach, cheesy stuff, mushrooms, etc.  The sky’s the limit.
  3. Both the uncooked paste and the cooked balls freeze incredibly well so don’t be afraid to make extra.

Ok, that’s it now for choux paste.  Enjoy this French classic.

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