How to balance choux pastry - Pianeta Dessert.com® (2024)

FAQs

How to tell when pate a choux has enough egg? ›

How to Tell when the Choux Pastry has Enough Eggs Added to It. This is the trickiest part in making choux pastry--you need to make sure you add enough egg that the dough is shiny and smooth, but not so much egg that it doesn't hold its shape when you pipe it.

Potential reasons for each fault include insufficient cooling, eggs added too quickly, not beating the mixture enough, incorrect baking temperature or time, insufficient baking, and allowing the liquid to cool too much before adding flour.

Second, it is important to cook the flour for a few minutes before adding the eggs. This will help to develop the gluten in the flour, which will give the dough its structure. Finally, it is important to not overmix the dough after the eggs are added. Overmixing can make the dough tough.

If the problem is the dough consistency, add flour one tablespoon at a time until the dough is no longer runny.

To make sure your dough is just right, scoop up the mixture on a spoon or spatula and then raise the spoon in the air, letting the pastry fall back into the pan. You will know it's ready when the pastry slides off slowly, creating a 'V' like shape.

When enough egg has been added the mixture will be glossy and thin enough that a large spoonful will fall heavily from the spoon in one lump (without shaking or tapping the spoon on the side of the saucepan), but thick enough that it doesn't slide off easily.

The essential ingredients are butter, water, flour and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in the dough evaporates when baked, puffing the pastry.

Shelf-life & Refeshing your Choux

You can keep the Choux in an airtight container for up to 3 days. They will feel soggy when you take them out so it's important to put them in a 175°C oven for about 5 minutes. That will dry and crisp them back up. ..But I suggest to use,the same day you make them, so much better.

In general, you can go hotter with water-based choux (say, up around 425°F or so) without risk of over-browning, but overall our testing found 400°F to be a sweet spot that works across a variety of recipes.

The butter in the recipe is for richness and flavor. Add too much fat and it will inhibit the puff. Still, even with a higher ratio of fat, you'll get a worthy product. It's best to cut the butter into smaller pieces so it melts more efficiently, without evaporating too much of the water needed to produce the steam.

Why is my choux pastry not puffing? ›

There are a few reasons why this might happen: The oven temperature was too high, and the pastries were set before they could puff. Reduce the oven temperature, and bake on the middle oven shelf. Too much moisture.

For the liquid, you can use water or milk or a combination of both. We choose the combination of both because this way you get a nice color and tender bite, but the extra water also allows for baking at a slightly higher temperature.

You added too much flour, or not enough eggs. Not getting a glossy sheen on your dough is a good sign that your pâte à choux is going to be dense and dry. Or if you added raw flour to your dough because it's too runny, it can mess with the final consistency too.

The use of milk gives the choux more color during baking and creates a more tender pastry, whereas water allows for baking at a higher temperature. Generally, a combination of both water and milk will be used. Unsalted butter is typically used for the fat; however, margarine and shortening can be used as well.

The choux buns should be golden brown and, what pastry chefs call, 'dry' on the inside. This effectively means the inside should feel moist but no moisture is to be seen. If they sink after baking this means there was still too much moisture inside and you will need a slightly longer baking time.

Choux pastry tastes eggy: This is normal, for the most part! Choux pastry is mostly eggs, so you're definitely going to taste them here. If you're really tasting the eggs, then you may have added them in the while the dough is too warm.

If the puffs collapse it means there was too much moisture in them. So either you did not dry the dough enough, or they were not cooked enough. To avoid this I recommend drying the dough really well (see below) and cracking the door of the oven open when the choux are baked.

The Eggs: Eggs loosen the thick, cooked flour-water-butter paste thanks to the high water content of the whites, and enrich it with more fat from the yolks. And because eggs solidify as they cook, they also help ensure the cooked choux will set properly and hold its final shape.