CHOUX PASTRY (PATE A CHOUX)

Pate a  Choux

(35 à 40 choux)

INGREDIENTS

150g Self Raising Flour

150g All purpose Flour

9 eggs

200g butter

2 teaspoons of sugar

1 pinch of salt 

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

500ml water (milk also can be used)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place 500ml water+ 200g butter + 2 teaspoon sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla essence + 1 pinch of salt together in a saucepan and allow the butter to melt on low heat. Stir occasionally until mixture boils.

2. Once boiled remove from stove and add 150g self raising flour+ 150g all purpose flour. Mixed everything with a wooden spatula. 

3. Return to low heat and continue to cook for 2-3 mins more by stirring constantly until the paste no longer stick to the saucepan.

4. Turn off the heat and transfer the paste to a bowl and allow to cool slightly

5. Add 9 eggs one at a time to the mixture. You can do it by hand and mixed with a wooden spatula.  I personally prefer using a stand mixer as it will be less tedious. At the end I would leave some eggs behind for egg wash (about 25ml)

6. Put dough in a large pastry bag with a star tip and pipe the dough into 5-10cm long strips or you can pipe them into circles

7. Brush the top with a little bit of egg wash

8. Allow to bake at 175 degree celsius for 35 minutes in a preheated oven 

CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRES (PASTRY CREAM)

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons custard powder

1 tablespoon cornflour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 glasses of milk.  Add in 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence.

2 tablespoons cacao or 1 tablespoon coffee

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl place 2 tbsp of custard + 1 tbsp of cornflour + 4 tbsp sugar.  Then add some milk little by little and stir until there is no lumps

2. Boil the rest of the milk**.  Once boiled,  add in the mixture of custard, cornflour, sugar and milk.

3. Continue to cook on low heat until mixture thickened

4. At the end,  add in 2 tbsp of Cacao or 1 tbsp of coffee according to your taste. Mix until well-combined and allow to cool.

Before filling the cream puffs, whip 200ml of fresh cream to soft peaks and mix it well to the pastry cream using a whisk to lighten the cream. Then place mixture in a piping bag, split puffs in half and fill the puff with the pastry cream. The puffs can then be decorated with jam and flaked almonds lightly grilled in the oven. For chocolate lovers, you can decorate with melted chocolate.