Guide to making choux pastry at home

The choux pastry is made with simple, basic ingredients everyone will have in their pantry. Choux has a dual use, being used for both sweet and savoury. The ingredients don’t change from sweet to savoury, and the saltiness remains the same too. Here's how to make a dessert choux pastry and fill it up.

Ingredients

10 gms caster sugar

160 gms water

160 gms milk

160 gms butter

5 gms salt

160 gms T45 flour (doesn’t have much gluten, as with egg the choux will rise automatically and with gluten the choux will explode) or just all-purpose flour

275 gms whole eggs

Method

1. In a pan, bring to the boil water, milk, salt, sugar and butter. When it starts boiling, stop the flame and add the sifted flour in all at once. Turn the heat back on and dry the mixture out over the heat, until the dough forms a ball and doesn’t stick anymore to the side of the pan.

2. Transfer the mixture to a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment.

3. Add the eggs one at the time.

4. Scrape the bottom of your mixing bowl so there’s no flour stuck at the bottom.

5. Mix until the texture is smooth enough – the dough must slowly slide down the spatula. Stop the mixer and cover it with a cling film if is not used directly.

6. Fill a piping bag up to half full – don’t overfill, the filling has to be able to sit in the palm of your hand. For cream puffs or profiteroles, ensure the nozzle isn’t too big so as to be able to make the peaks. Pipe desired shapes. Then bake in an oven at 140C temperature for 60 minutes.

7. Then bake in an oven at 140C temperature for 60 minutes.

8. To fill, make an incision in the shell, use a piping bag and squeeze the filling into the pastry. Or simply cut in half and spoon filling of your choice.

Note: This article was first published in June, 2021.

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