Choux Pastry

Ratio: 2 parts water, 1 part butter, 1 part flour, and 2 parts egg (plus salt for flavor)

Ratio by volume: 1 cup water : ½ cup butter : 1 cup flour : 1 cup egg

Basic Pâte à Choux 

From Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman

8 ounces water

4 ounces butter (1 stick)

½ teaspoon salt

4 ounces flour (a scant cup)

8 ounces eggs (4 large eggs)

Bring the water, butter, and salt to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the flour, and stir rapidly. The flour will absorb the water quickly and a dough will form and pull away from the sides. Keep stirring to continue cooking the flour and cook off some of the water, another minute or two. Remove your pan from the heat and let it cool slightly, a few minutes, or cool off the pan itself by running cold water over its base. You don’t want the eggs to cook too quickly, but the choux paste needs to be warm to hot. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring rapidly until each is combined into the paste; it takes  a few seconds – at first it will seem as f the dough won’t accept them. The paste will go from shiny to flat, slippery to furry, when the eggs are fully in. Alternately, transfer the butter-flour paste to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle and mix in the eggs one at a time.

The pâte à choux can be cooked immediately or refrigerated for up to a day until ready to use.

Yield: About 20 ounces or 24 gougeres or profiteroles

Profiteroles, Cream Puffs, and Eclairs

Reduce the total salt to 1/8 teaspoon and add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the eater in the Basic Pâte à Choux ingredients.

On a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet, pipe or spoon out golf-ballsized portions or, for éclairs, pipe out 4- to 5-inch logs. Place in an oven preheated to 425F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F to complete their cooking, 10 to 20 minutes longer.

Strawberry Eclairs

Ratio by Michael Ruhlman

Basic Pate a Choux (for éclairs)

8 ounces water

4 ounces butter (1 stick)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 ounces flour (a scant cup)

8 ounces eggs (4 large eggs)

Bake at 425F for 13 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and bake for 10 to 20 minutes longer.

Crème Patissiere

8 ounces milk

8 ounces cream

1 vanilla bean (use 1 tablespoon vanilla extract)

4 ounces sugar (about ½ cup)

8 ounces egg yolks (about 8 egg yolks)

6 tablespoons cornstarch

3 ounces milk

2 ounces butter (1/2 stick)

Add ¼ cup strawberry puree to make strawberry pastry cream

UPDATE: Add more starch to compensate for excess liquid from strawberries.

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Apple Cinnamon Rolls

(Adapted from http://fakeginger.com/?p=1632)

For the cinnamon rolls:

6 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

5 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 large egg, slightly beaten

Zest of one lemon

3 ½ cups bread flour

2 teaspoons dry active yeast

1 cup plus 2-4 tablespoons milk, warmed to 110F

For the filling:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 apples, peeled, cored and cut into small cubes

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon cornstarch

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

pinch salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup sugar

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

Powdered sugar

Milk

Maple syrup

Directions:

Combine the yeast and milk. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter on medium-high speed until smooth.  Mix in the egg and lemon zest until incorporated.  Alternate adding the flour and milk to the butter mixture (flour in three additions, milk in two additions).  Knead dough for 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, make the filling.  To make the caramelized apples, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the apples, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Mix until the apples are evenly coated.  Cook about 18 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.  Set aside to cool.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon to blend; set aside.

Mist a work surface with spray oil.  Roll it out into a rectangle with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the dough with flour if needed to keep it from sticking (about 12 x 14 inches for larger rolls or 9 x 18 inches for smaller rolls).  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix to blend.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the surface of the dough.  Evenly distribute the caramelized apples over the top of the dough.  Starting with the wide edge, roll up the dough into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon sugar spiral as you roll.  Pinch the seam shut, and with the seam side down, slice the log into your desired number of rolls.  Transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, placing the rolls about ½-1 inch apart.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 75-90 minutes, until the rolls have grown into each other and have nearly doubled in size.  At this point, the rolls can also be covered and retarded in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.  Pull the pan out of the refrigerator 3-4 hours before baking to let the dough proof.

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool in the baking about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Make the glaze.

Makes 8-12 large cinnamon rolls or 12-16 smaller rolls

Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls

Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls (adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/easy-sticky-buns-recipe/index.html)

1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 package (17.3-ounces/ 2-sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

Filling

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.


Combine the 1 ½ sticks of butter and 1/3 cup of the brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups.


Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar and 1 ½  teaspoons of the cinnamon. 


Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2-inch and discard. 


Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 ½  inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 cinnamon rolls.


Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the rolls onto the parchment paper (ease the filling out onto the buns with a spoon) and cool completely. Drizzle icing on top, if desired.

Cream Puffs

Pastry Cream 

(adapted from http://glutenfreecanteen.com/2011/04/11/canteen-cream-puffs-custard-filled-gluten-free/)

2 cups whole milk

1/3 cup of superfine sugar

6 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons corn starch, sifted

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter

Bring the milk and vanilla bean paste to a small simmer in a saucepan.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch to combine.

When the milk has simmered, scoop about a ¼ cup of the very hot milk and while whisking add it to the egg mixture to temper the yolks.  Pour the remaining milk in while whisking. Pour mixture into the saucepan used for the milk. Heat on low and keep stirring until it starts to bubble.

Cook (and stir) for about two-three more minutes.  Adjust the burner heat so it doesn’t burn. If you’re really worried about the mixture scorching – use a double boiler.

Once thick, remove from heat and add the vanilla extract.  Leave for about five minutes off heat and then stir in the butter. Cool using an ice bath. Cover and refrigerate to chill.

Pate a Choux 

(adapted from http://chocolatechiptrips.blogspot.com/2010/05/daring-bakers-piece-montee.html)

Yield: About 28

¾ cup water
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

To prepare batter: Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

 

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly. Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny. As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.

To Pipe:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip. Pipe the choux about 1 inch-apart on the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top. Brush tops with milk.

To Bake:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.

Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 18 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

To Fill:
Using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet. Freeze cream puffs so that the filling won’t spill out. Before consuming, take cream puffs out of the freezer and let them thaw for about 20 – 30 minutes.

Totoro Cream Puffs (inspired by http://www.annathered.com/2009/04/07/how-to-make-totoro-cream-puffs/)

Make pastry cream.

Make batter for choux pastry.

To Pipe: Pipe the batter onto a baking sheet to make a peanut-shaped body for the Totoros. Pipe two lines for the ears. Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. Brush tops with milk.

Continue following directions to bake and fill.

After freezing the Totoro cream puffs pipe eyes onto them using buttercream frosting, white icing, or white chocolate. Freeze until set. Using a toothpick, place a dot of melted dark chocolate onto each eye to make pupils. Add a nose and whiskers.

Pastry Cream Pancakes

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

¾ cup pastry cream (the kind with whipped cream folded into it)

½ milk + more to make the batter thinner

2 tablespoons canola oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center. Pour the egg, pastry cream, milk, canola oil, and vanilla extract into the well. Stir batter until everything is combined. If necessary, add milk as needed to make the batter thinner.

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium heat. Pour ¼ cup of batter for each pancake onto the pan and cook until the bottom is a light brown color. Flip the pancake and cook briefly on the other side until it is brown as well.