Pâte à Choux aka Choux Pastry
I don’t know if you had the same experience when you were a child but in my house, my mother always had dessert. It was her bargaining tool (lol…) for my brother and I to finish our main course. “You guys won’t have any dessert until you finish what’s on your plate…” – she used to say. I remember once I just didn’t like what was for dinner and after sitting there for a couple of hours at the dining table, I was sent to bed without eating any dessert. I realized (only that night) that I was able to skip desserts… it wasn’t a big deal! Of course, this new revelation didn’t last very long because the next evening I was back enjoying dessert again after my meal… It was only in my teenage years that I could live without it… well… that was the theory!
Every time I host a dinner party, I always have a homemade dessert for my guests. To me, its a nice way to finish off a meal. You know when I mention that “… living without dessert”, this statement is actually more in the grey area. Actually there are a few desserts that I cannot live without and I definitely don’t need the excuse to make them only when there’s company over… although it does help so I don’t have to eat them all. Two of my favorites have the same common denominator and it’s Pâte à Choux also known as Choux Pastry…
Years ago I wanted to start making choux pastry and the only person that I knew how to make it was my mother. After asking her how, I’ve been making it ever since. Pâte à Choux is a base for many pastry desserts such as Cream puffs, Croquembouche, Saint-Honoré cake, Beignets, Chocolate Éclair and so on as well as Gougères which is more a savory pastry served as an appetizer or along with a main course, Pommes Dauphine, etc.
It’s not complicated to make and this is definitely a recipe that you need in your binder. I love desserts made with choux pastry and so do my guests even when everyone is full – they still find room to enjoy them…
Bon Appétit!
Check out these other delectable dessert recipes…
– Mille-Feuille
– Chocolate Lava Cake with Caramel
– Bumbleberry Pie
– Tiramisu
– Chocolate Raspberry Cake with a Mirror Glaze
– Christmas Stollen
– Pavlova
and for even more yummy dessert recipes, click on this link… Recipe Category • Desserts
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Pâte à Choux aka Choux Pastry
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Ingredients
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. ground Himalayan sea salt
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1 cup water
- 4 large free-run eggs
Directions
- In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine shortening and water; bring to a boil.
- When the shortening is melted, add the flour mixture. Stir vigorously until it releases from the sides of the pot and forms a ball, about 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat, transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool off.
- When the mixture gets to room temperature, add one egg at a time, mixing well between each addition with the paddle attachment.
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Depending on the pastry, form dough as requested using a pastry bag on a greased cookie sheet or silicone mat (*see footnote).
- Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 350ºF and bake for 30 minutes - DO NOT OPEN OVEN DOOR under any circumstances!
- When it's done, remove from the heat and make small holes using a chop stick. Cool off completely before filling.
Notes
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