Pate A Choux A Classic Pastry Goes Mexican Recipes

PATE A CHOUX: A CLASSIC PASTRY GOES MEXICAN

Steps:

• Place liquid, butter, salt and sugar, if using, in a medium saucepan and bring slowly to a simmer. Turn off heat and add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball. Return to medium heat to dry the paste so it will have the maximum puffing ability: turn the ball around in the pan, pressing it against the sides and flipping it over, until butter starts oozing out and the paste no longer sticks to your fingers. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. Turn the paste into a medium bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle and beat in the eggs, one at a time, with a wooden spoon or the paddle. Each time you add an egg, the mixture will become slippery and messy but will then come together, at which point you can add the next egg.
• Load mixture into pastry bag with a round tip (1/2 or 1-inch depending on size puff desired) and pipe out as required. It will give the fullest puff if used right away but can be held for several hours.
• Basic proportions for Pate a Choux are 1:1:1:1/2, or 1 cup liquid, 1 cup flour:1 cup egg:1/2 cup butter. Water makes choux more crisp, milk makes them more tender,
• Puffs expand when cooked as water in batter turns to steam and explodes the dough.
• Pate a choux is an extremely versatile pastry that can be the base of many sweet and savory dishes. It can take many forms: be poached as gnocchi, baked to form hollow puffy balls that can be filled with various things, or fried as fritters and sprinkled with sugar. It is neutral in flavor so is adaptable to any cuisine.

BAKING PATE A CHOUX TO FORM PUFFS OR ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Pipe out 1/2-inch balls for profiteroles or cocktail puffs, 1-inch balls for cream puffs, or 1/2 by 4-inch strips for eclairs. Be sure to leave enough room in between for them to triple in size. Brush with egg glaze and bake for 15 minutes. Lower heat to 400 and open oven door briefly to let steam out. Close the door and continue to bake another 1030 minutes according to their size. They must be well dried out or they may fall. Take one out of the oven and check it by breaking open and checking the interior walls: they should be dry, not wet and eggy. Return to the oven as necessary. Remove when done and cool on a wire rack.
• Baked puffs and eclairs freeze well for up to a month.
• Filling Puffs: Either slice open horizontally, spoon filling onto bottom, and replace the hat; or pierce a small hole with a paring knife in side or bottom of the puff and pipe in a soft filling using a pastry bag with a small plain tip.

PATE A CHOUX

Steps:

• Bring butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in flour. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides and a film forms on bottom of pan, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Raise speed to medium; add whole eggs, 1 at a time, until a soft peak forms when batter is touched with your finger. If peak does not form, lightly beat remaining egg white, and mix it into batter a little at a time until it does.