Pâte à Choux

Pâte à Choux

Pâte à Choux (pronounced pat-a-shoe) is a puffed hollow pastry that can be filled with cream (as in a eclair) or with savory options such at cheese, nuts or meats. The principle is the same: The dough is made with hot liquids in order to “gel” the starches in the flour, the dough is kneaded to develop the gluten (if any), and eggs are added – the egg liquid steams and puffs up the dough in the oven, and the egg protein “sets” and firms the walls of the puff. Yeast or baking powder are not used at all – the leavening comes entirely from the steam.

In this lab, you will make a classic pate a choux with regular flour, and then a savory variation that comes from Brazil and uses the naturally gluten-free tapioca flour.

Classic Pâte à Choux

Materials

• Medium saucepan
• sturdy wooden spoon or sturdy rubber spoonula
• Standing mixer with paddle attachment (or mixing bowl and elbow grease)
• 2 baking sheets
• Parchment paper or silicone baking mats
• gallon sized food storage bags or two tablespoons

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup water
• 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup bread or all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of eggs (about 4 large eggs and two whites – make sure you have some whites, you will need to separate the eggs) Pâte à choux recipes will typically give a number of eggs as a starting point, but your goal should really be to add in only as many eggs as the butter and flour will hold. This amount depends on your flour, the size (and slight size variance) in your eggs, and even the humidity on the day you bake, so it can vary slightly from day to day and batch to batch.
• (Optional – for cheesy puffs) 1/2 cup finely grated hard cheese (gruyere, parmesean…etc) + 1/2 teaspoon fine table salt
• Non-stick cooking spray

Instructions for Classic Pâte à Choux

Once pâte à choux hits the heat of the oven, all this liquid quickly turns to steam, leavens the paste, and makes it rise. In addition, the proteins in the eggs uncoil, stretch, and “puff.” The signature hollow-ness of baked choux is a result of these proteins being stretched so far that they break. The eggs will eventually set, as cooked eggs do, to help support the structure and create the crisp outer shell of baked choux paste. However, if under-baked, the proteins will recoil and cause the choux to shrivel up and collapse.

1. Heat the oven: Arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat to 425°F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Boil the water, butter and salt: Place the water, butter and salt, in a 2- to 4-quart saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring to melt the butter.
3. Add the flour: Remove the pan from heat and add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and resembles mashed potatoes.
4. Cook the dough: Return the pan to medium-low heat and stir for 3 to 5 minutes to dry out the dough. The dough is ready when it smells nutty, glistens, and is thick enough to hold a spoon upright. A film of starch on the bottom of the pan is normal.
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5. Cool the dough: Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (Alternatively, use an electric hand mixer or beat by hand with a stiff spatula.) Beat the dough on medium-low speed until it stops steaming and is just warm to the touch, about 1 minute.
6. Add the eggs: Continue beating and add the eggs in 4 additions. Wait for each addition to be absorbed and for the dough to smooth out before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed between additions. In the end, the dough should come together in a very smooth, creamy batter. If you pull the paddle attachment of an electric mixer out of the paste, a “tongue” should appear at the tip of the paddle.
7. Add cheese (optional) – you can fill these puffs with cream, or mushroom paste, or really anything you want. But if you want to make them cheesy puffs – now is the time. Add in 1/2 cup of grated cheese and the 1/2 tsp salt
8. Pipe or spoon the dough onto the baking sheets. If you have a pastry bag and know how to use it – go ahead. Otherwise, you can just put the dough in a large gallon-sized plastic bag and snip off the end – pipe golf-ball sized puffs directly onto the baking sheet. Alternatively, use two tablespoons to scoop and golf-ball sized plop mounds of dough onto the baking sheet. Keep the puffs two inches apart.
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9. Cook for 10 minutes at 425F (they should puff up!), then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. If your puffs are larger…they might take longer.
10. Once they are removed from the oven pierce with a small, sharp knife immediately to release steam.
11. Cool completely.
12. When cool, you can slice off their little tops and fill the inside with something awesome. You can also wrap them in a plastic bag and freeze for 2-3 months.

Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Puffs)

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
10 ounces tapioca flour or sour cassava flour (about 2 cups) – look in the gluten free section of the grocery store. Bob’s Red Mill makes a Tapioca flour. 
2 large eggs
1 to 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Materials

Medium saucepan
Wooden spoon
Standing mixer with paddle attachment (or mixing bowl and elbow grease)
2 baking sheets
Parchment paper or silicone baking mats

Instructions

1. Heat the oven: Arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat to 450°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. Boil the milk and oil: Place the milk, oil, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat as soon as you see big bubbles coming through the milk.
3. Add the tapioca flour: Add all of the tapioca flour and stir with a wooden spoon until you see no more dry tapioca flour. The dough will be grainy and gelatinous at this point.
4. Cool the dough: Transfer the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (Alternatively, you can finish the dough by hand. Be prepared for a work-out.) Beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed until it smooths out and has cooled enough that you can hold your finger against the dough for several seconds. There may be an oily slick that is not fully incorporated.
5. Beat in the eggs: With the mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs into the dough one at a time, waiting until the first egg is fully incorporated before adding the second. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Beat in the cheese: Beat in the cheese on medium speed until fully incorporated. The resulting dough will be very sticky, stretchy, and soft with a consistency between cake batter and cookie dough. It will not be completely smooth.
7. Portion the puffs: Have a small bowl of water ready. For small puffs, scoop the dough by level tablespoons onto the baking sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2-inches apart (24 per baking sheet). For larger puffs, scoop the dough with a small (1 ounce or 2 tablespoon) ice cream scoop, spacing them about 2-inches apart (12 per baking sheet). Dip your scoop in water between scoops to prevent sticking.
8. Bake the puffs: Place the baking sheets in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350°F. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets between racks and from front to back. Bake until the puffs have puffed, the outsides are dry, and they are just starting to turn golden-brown on the bottoms, 10 to 15 minutes more. (The tops will not brown much.) Cool for a few minutes and eat warm.

Recipe Notes

• Storage: Leftover puffs can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week and re-crisped in a warm oven or toaster oven.
• Freezing: Portion the dough onto the baking sheets and freeze until solid. Transfer to resealable freezer bags and freeze for up to 1 month. Bake frozen for the same amount of time.

On your blog:

1. Integrate the photos you took above into a typed narrative about your process. 
2. Take photos 
   1. Side-by-side of your completely cooled pâte à choux and pão de queijo *Brazillian cheese puff) – labeled.
   2. Slice or break open each puff – take a closeup photo of the interior, showing the holes.
3. Post a brief video in which…
   1. You describe and explain the texture of your puffs.
      1. Consider how crispy and light vs chewy and soft they are.
      2. What about each recipe made the puffs light vs chewy?
   2. Describe what went really well during your puff making
   3. What would you change if you repeated this process again.
4. Answer the following questions by copy/pasting the question and typing your answer on your blog:
   1. What about this recipe ensured that the puff would bake with a firm exterior and a hollow interior?
      • What made these puffs “rise”?
   2. Why did the dough need to “cool down” before adding the eggs?

References:

This lab was developed from the following sources:

http://steamykitchen.com/6659-super-simple-pate-a-choux-basic-cream-puff-recipe.html

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-po-de-queijo-brazilian-cheese-bread-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-176118

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-cheese-gougeres-169039