We received this call for help from one of the participants in our Kitchn Cure:
I have tried multiple times and cannot get a good choux pastry down. I often host baby/wedding showers, and I would LOVE to do one of those awesome cream puff towers for an event like that. But, the stinkin’ choux won’t make friends with me!
We feel your pain! And if you're making things like towers of cream puffs for your showers, we can see why you're in such high demand!
First off, check out our post on making basic choux pastry (pâte à choux):
• Introduction to Pâte à Choux
If you don't have them already, a good pastry bag and a set of pastry tips are really essential for making any kind of choux pastry - especially if you're going to be making a lot of them as it sounds like you are. Use the largest sized round or star tip and hold the pastry bag perpendicular to the baking sheet as you pipe out your shape.
When you're ready to fill them, fit the pastry bag with one of the smaller tips and fill it with your cream. Poke a discrete hole in the bottom or side of the pastry and gently pipe in the filling. Also, fill them as close to serving as possible since the pastry will absorb moisture from the filling and gradually get soggy.
The other key to making pâte à choux is making sure the pastries get really dried out. They should have a crisp outer shell and a hollow, eggy interior similar to a popover. To make sure of this, pipe out all the pastries on a given sheet to roughly the same size and shape so they bake at the same rate, and then cook them at three different temperatures.
Start off in a fairly hot 425° oven and then turn it down to 375° as soon as you put the pastries in. When the pastries are golden-brown in color, hard on the outside, and sound hollow when tapped with a fingernail, take them out of the oven and poke each one with a toothpick to release the steam. Lower the oven to 300° and put the pastries back in for a few minutes to completely dry out.
Making a tower of cream puffs, or croquembouche, is also definitely doable at home! The first few times you try one, pipe out the puff balls fairly large (like the size of an orange, maybe) to make things easier on yourself. You could also start off by making several smaller pyramids and build up to a larger one. Go ahead and fill the pastries before you start.
To form the actual pyramid, traditionally you would cook sugar to the caramel stage and then dab a little on the bottom of each puff to "glue" the puffs together. We've also had good success just using toothpicks. Either way, start by laying out a circle of cream puffs to form your base and just start stacking them on, gradually bringing the sides together into a point. If you have any sugar left over, you can drizzle it over the finished pyramid.
We hope this gives you enough information to get going. Send us pictures of your pastries from your next event!
Any other words of advice for successful choux pastries?
Related: Help! How do I Fix My Muffin Recipe?
(Image: Flickr member yajico licensed under Creative Commons)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
wow - I must have been luckily. I made 'em the first time on the weekend and they came out perfect. :)
view ChzPlz's profile
I've always wanted to make a croquembouche.
view art's profile
"The other key to making pâte à choux is making to pipe out all the pastries on a given sheet to roughly the same size and shape so they bake at the same rate, and then cook them at three different temperatures."
This is especially true with the croquembouche, as it helps with building structure. I skip the piping for this project and use a very small OXO scoop (2 tsp, I think). That way each puff is exactly the same size.
Another tip for building the big ol 'bouche: have everything ready to go (cream puffs filled, base set up, ice bath for hot sugar burns) before you start your caramel.
view Ms. Button's profile
I feel your pain! I ambitiously tried to make a croquembouche for Christmas one year, only to fail rather miserably. The caramel and assembly weren't really a problem, it was that my friggin' pâte à choux didn't puff. I had a tower of tiny pancakes; it was so sad.
The key to good pâte à choux is to add the eggs as quickly as possible to the panada (flour, water, and butter mixture). If you have robot arms, you can do it by hand; otherwise, you'll probably need a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Every time I tried it by hand, the poor things just wouldn't puff, or deflated the instant they were out of the oven.
Yes, they do need to be dried out thoroughly. Definitely be sure to stab each one (after baking) with a sharp knife, skewer, or toothpick to release steam. It's pretty hard to overbake these, at any size, so don't be shy about leaving them in for a few extra minutes.
Here's a post from my website about making pâte à choux (well, gougères, actually), with a good recipe and all my notes about making it: http://www.abreadaday.com/?p=257 .
A hint for making the pastries all the same size: draw a half-inch grid in sharpie on a piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment on top of the gridded one, and pipe the choux onto the top paper, using the grid as guidelines. You can reuse the gridded sheet as many times as you can keep it clean. A little time consuming, but it's the only way I can keep them all the same size.
Try baking éclairs, cream puffs, or whatever other pastries you like as test batches for the pâte à choux, until you get the hang of it. If you know someone who can make it, get him or her to show you - it's much easier to get the hang of it that way!
As for assembling the croquembouche, you can do it freehand, but it's probably easier to get a styrofoam cone from a craft store. Cover it with aluminum foil, parchment, frosting, fabric, or whatever before assembling. It'll end up more even and pretty that way.
If you have any questions, you can email me, and I'm always happy to help! My contact info is on my website.
Beth
http://www.abreadaday.com
view eprewitt's profile
Is croquembouche the same as profiteroles?
view bkk's profile
BKK - The short answer: yes and no.
The long answer: Croquembouche and profiteroles are both made with pâte à choux, but so are éclairs and cream puffs. The difference is the shaping and finishing. Éclairs are obviously long, like a small hot dog bun, and croquembouche and profiteroles are about the same round size and shape.
But profiteroles are filled with something (mousse, pastry cream, ice cream, etc.), and usually served as a plated dessert. A croquembouche, on the other hand, is always many of these pastries (also usually filled, but generally with pastry cream) in a tall cone shape, with the pastries held together with caramel.
Hope that wasn't too much info!
http://www.abreadaday.com
view eprewitt's profile