Choux Pastry | Baking Processes | BAKERpedia (2024)

FAQs

What are the processes in choux pastry? ›

It's made by cooking flour with water and/or milk and butter, then mixing in eggs off heat to form a pipe-able, spoonable consistency. It's then cooked a second time, either by baking, frying, or poaching, depending on the specific recipe the choux is being used for.

It's pretty easy to know when the choux pastry is cooked, look for the tell-tale sign of light golden brown, puffed up and feel hollow when you pick them up.

A twice-cooked dough—first on the stovetop and again in the oven—choux is like a magic air bubble of pastry. It harnesses the power of steam, rather than leavening, to rise in the oven. While baking, the outside sets, with the fat crisping into a golden exterior.

Puff pastry is made using a method known as lamination, where a block of butter is wrapped fully and sealed inside a dough. The dough then goes through a series of folds, where it is rolled out to a certain thickness and folded over onto itself.

Too much moisture in dough from the eggs.

If you've used too many eggs in your pastry dough, water in the egg yolk will start to separate from the yolk. Once the pastry is baking in the oven, this water then evaporates, causing the structure of the pastry to tighten up and shrink.

It puffs up in the oven until it is eventually set by the heat. The airiness, in fact, is caused because choux has a high water content, which is turned into steam during baking and this forces the pastry shell outwards and gives it volume.

It is characterized by a crispy outer shell with a light, airy interior. Choux pastry, also called pâte à choux ("pot-ah-SHOO"), is made with flour, butter, eggs, and water, although it can sometimes be made using half water and half milk.

If too much egg is added or if it is added too quickly, the Choux's ability to rise when baked will be affected. Similarly, if not enough egg is incorporated, it won't puff, causing it to be dense inside.

My choux dough is too runny, what do I do? Cause for runny dough: Too much egg added into your panade. The Fix: Make another batch of panade, heating the butter, water, sugar and salt and then adding in the flour and cooking it. At this point, let it cool to room temperature.

Finally, it is important to not overmix the dough after the eggs are added. Overmixing can make the dough tough.

How to know when choux is done? ›

This fact means that it is more important to know how the finished paste should look and feel than it is to just follow the recipe. Finished choux paste should be soft, smooth, and be able to be piped.

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.

The basic steps in the production of éclair paste are as follows: boil the liquid, fat, and salt; stir in the flour all at once; cool slightly; and beat in the eggs a little at a time. The main ingredients in strudel dough are pastry flour, water, salt, eggs, and oil.

The choux turns brown

In the oven, it slowly turns a light brown color. This is because of the Maillard reaction. Sugar from the flour and proteins from the eggs and flour react together, to form brown molecules. Freshly baked small choux buns, notice their light brown color.

Eggs: eggs will provide hydration, from the water content. And the egg proteins will provide structure to the choux when they coagulate with the heat of the oven.

Choux pastry is unique in that it does not use a raising agent, such as baking powder or baking soda. Instead, it relies on the steam that is created when the water in the dough evaporates during baking.