choux puffs and a croquembouche

Choux pastry was my nemesis for a year or so. I’d made it twice, both times failing miserably, as all I seemed to be able to produce was sad, flat lumps of not-quite-pastry. I’m not sure how I managed to screw it up so badly, considering the first time I used the choux pastry recipe from the Sprinklebakes cookbook it was a raging success, can Heather Baird do no wrong?

I made choux puffs a few weeks ago without a hiccup, until I tried to make pastry cream and it was so delicious but also very runny. I then made a croquembouche.

 

I made a croquembouche as it was my pole dance instructor’s birthday (yes I do pole dancing… it’s a sport). I asked her what she would like me to make, and another girl in the class said to give me a challenge, so my instructor (jokingly?) suggested a croquembouche. Well, I sure do take baking seriously and I thought that it shouldn’t be too hard. I made some mini choux puffs, and tried my hand, again, at pastry cream. This time I was not going to end up with thin, runny pastry cream. I stirred it over the stove for what felt like years; I strained my wrist while stirring, so great was my determination. After it had set in the fridge, I took it out to see if it was alright; smug in my surety that I had in fact created a perfectly viscous crème patissière.

It was completely solid. I could pick up the pastry cream by my fingers; it was like a flan.

I decided to fill the choux puffs with sweetened whipped cream, and dipped them in dark chocolate ganache. I then stacked them using toffee to adhere them together, and I made strands of sugar by dipping two forks in sugar and holding them together until tacky, then pulling them apart to make thin ribbons of toffee. I also melted some white chocolate and spread it onto a baking sheet. When slightly hardened, I used a knife to create a rectangle with straight lines. I then piped "happy birthday" onto the white chocolate using a small round piping tip and dark chocolate.

Choux Puffs…

¾ cup water

85 grams butter

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup plain flour

4 eggs

 

Method:

1. Combine water, butter, sugar and salt over medium heat in a saucepan.

2. When mixture reaches a boil, remove saucepan from the heat and sift in flour. Stir to combine

3. Return the saucepan to the heat and stir until dough forms a ball and comes away from the sides of the bowl

4. Transfer the dough to a bowl and stir until cooled slightly

5. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius

6. Add one egg to the bowl, stirring until the egg is incorporated, it will at first look like it wont combine, but soldier on until it looks like mashed potatoes

7. Repeat with the rest of the eggs

8. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip, I just spooned my dough onto a lined baking tray

9. Pipe dough onto a tray lined with baking paper, for a mini croquembouche I recommend mounds of dough sized approximately 3 centimetres square, and for choux puffs about 5 centimetres square.

10. Dip a clean finger in water and press on the peaks of the dough to form a rounded top.

11. Bake for 10 minutes or until the puffs are golden and risen

12. Lower temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and bake until the pastry is dry, about 20 minutes

 

Filling…

300 millilitres cream

½ teaspoon cornflour

Icing sugar (optional)

 

Method:

1. Whip cream using a stand or hand mixer

2. Add icing sugar or any flavourings, if desired

3. Add cornflour to help cream hold its shape

 

 

Ganache…

100 grams chocolate

30 grams butter

Cream and/or milk

 

Method:

1. Melt cream and butter in the microwave at short intervals until smooth

2. If you would like the ganache to be thinner, add a dash of cream and milk and stir to combine

 

To assemble…

1.  Either poke a hole in the choux puffs or cut them in half

2. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream inside the puffs

3. Dip the choux in ganache; try to cover the hole with ganache

4. If making a mini croquembouche, heat ½ cup sugar until melted over medium heat, stirring constantly

5. Dip the choux puffs in toffee and stack them to form a tower

6. Dip two forks in toffee and hold them together, when tacky, pull the forks apart to create thin strands of toffee

7. Wrap strands around croquembouche