choux pastry

BOBS

I always add the flour off the heat - definitely dont cook it.

My quantities -
65g flour
pinch salt
1/4 pint water
2oz butter
2 eggs

Same method ... and i take off heat and beat in flour and then eggs in food processor
ETA
My recipe says "1. Sift flour and salt twice,
2. put water and butter in saucepan, heat slowly until butter melts, then bring to brisk boil
3. Remove from heat and tip in all flour
4. Stir briskly until mixture forms a soft ball and leaves side of pan clean
5. cool slightly, add eggs gradually beating hard until mixture is smooth, shiny and firm enough to stand in soft peaks.
6. Use immediately

yumyums

You have to make sure the flour & water mixture forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the pan. I do this on the heat.

Then remove from the heat, let cool a little, and beat in the eggs a bit at a time (beat a lot in order to develop the gluten in the flour)

zippychick

ive merged this with a previous choux pastry thread to help others in future

Hope you get it sorted

Zip

angeltreats

You do need to cook out the flour a bit.

Use strong flour rather than plain flour (higher gluten content gives a better rise and the pastry is less likely to collapse).
Bring the water and butter to the boil.
Take off the heat, tip in all the flour at once, beat it really well in, return to the heat and cook out the flour for a minute or two while stirring. Like you would if you were making a white sauce.
Let it sit for a few minutes to cool down.
Beat the eggs together and add them a bit at a time (NOT all at once), beating the life out of it after each addition (you could do this in a food mixer with a paddle attachment). It might not need all the egg that the recipe states, or it might need a bit more. If it looks sloppy, keep beating till your arm is sore, it should eventually come to the right consistency.

I've made a lot of choux pastry in the last year between work and college... profiteroles, eclairs, paris brest, massive ring-shaped gateaux etc etc.

yumyums

angeltreats wrote: »

You do need to cook out the flour a bit.

Use strong flour rather than plain flour (higher gluten content gives a better rise and the pastry is less likely to collapse).
Bring the water and butter to the boil.
Take off the heat, tip in all the flour at once, beat it really well in, return to the heat and cook out the flour for a minute or two while stirring. Like you would if you were making a white sauce.
Let it sit for a few minutes to cool down.
Beat the eggs together and add them a bit at a time (NOT all at once), beating the life out of it after each addition (you could do this in a food mixer with a paddle attachment). It might not need all the egg that the recipe states, or it might need a bit more. If it looks sloppy, keep beating till your arm is sore, it should eventually come to the right consistency.

I've made a lot of choux pastry in the last year between work and college... profiteroles, eclairs, paris brest, massive ring-shaped gateaux etc etc.

That is exactly how I learned to make choux pastry on my french pastry course! If you follow those instructions exactly then it will work for you.

Oh one more thing - when you melt the butter in the water make sure the water doesn't boil for too long before adding the flour as it'll evaporate and throw out the balance of the recipe

squeaky

Choux pastry was one I had looked at often and thought - too hard for me!

Then, one day, I decided to give it a go and used the recipe and instructions from my trusty be-ro book. Worked a treat. Simples!

It was the second time that I ran into trouble...

Guess which muppet, having made the pastry only recently, skip read the instructions and added the egg while the roux was still hot!?!?

It cooked itself into an instant solid lump! :eek:

If I remember rightly I gave it some time in the oven to bake properly, chopped it into lumps, then got a small tin of mandarins, reduced the liquid with a dollop of sugar to a syrup. Soaked the lumps with this. Added the mandarins and covered the whole lot with custard.

Not my greatest disaster recovery, but edible.

Just!