Choux pastry, vanilla cream patisserie and chocolate ganache
Choux pastry is perhaps on the trickier side of baking, but I'm sure with a few detailed steps and tips, you'll see that it's actually not that complicated. I definitely think that one of the reasons it seems daunting is because this dough isn't like a regular cake batter. You're essentially cooking the flour, need to have a specific amount of eggs (sometimes half an egg) and then the whole thing with all oven temperatures being different etc.
Things to note before starting
When it comes to troubleshooting choux pastry, it's (in my humble experience) not possible once you're already baking or added too much/too little of one of the dough ingredients. Here are some steps that's worth noting:
FLOUR
When adding the flour, water, sugar, milk and butter to the pot, make sure you mix everything until the dough forms one ball and no longer sticks to the sides. It will take a few minutes so don't rush this process. It shouldn't be clumpy or have spots of flour either.
EGGS
THIS part right here. For the same amount of flour mixture, 3 of my eggs can equate to 2 of yours etc. Use the number of eggs as a guideline, but look out for the tell tales of a perfect dough. It shouldn't be runny or stiff, but rather a good middle ground where if you were to take a spatula to the dough and lift it up, the dough falling off the spatula would fall slowly, making a "v" shape from the spatula. So although this recipe says 3 eggs, use 2 and if your dough makes the "v", don't add the final one. If it's close, but not there yet, whisk the 3rd egg and and pour in half the egg until you have the correct consistency. If the 3 eggs are not enough, add another half of egg.
OVEN TEMPERATURE
Everyone's oven temperature varies and that 10C can make or break your baking spirit. I would suggest using the temperatures stated, but keeping an eye on your Choux. The baking takes part in two temperature stages, one for the initial puffing and the other for drying out. If you see your Choux is browning too quickly, turn the temperature down or decrease the cooking time.
If you need a visual recipe, heave a look here:
Recipe:
Choux pastry:
125ml water
125ml milk
120g butter
130g flour
1 tsp sugar
3 eggs
Cream Patisserie/custard:
6 egg yolks
70g sugar
30g corn flour
480ml milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
40g butter
Ganache:
100g milk chocolate
50g heavy cream
Method:
Place your water, milk, butter and sugar in a saucepan until the butter has melted. Once melted, add the flour and slowly incorporate it using a heat proof spatula.
Stir vigorously until the mixture forms one ball of dough and no longer sticks to the sides of your saucepan. The dough should not have any dry spots of flour and be well mixed. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. At this point you can use your standing mixer and using the padding attachment, beat the dough to release steam and allow it to cool faster.
Once the dough is cool enough not to cook the eggs, using a standing mixer or by hand, add in the eggs one at a time until each one is fully incorporated. If the dough is too runny, you would need to make a new batch, so assess the dough after each egg. You can whisk the eggs and add it in small increments until the dough reaches the stage where it drops off the spatula in a "v" shape.
Using a piping bag (or a spoon), pipe dollops of Choux pastry on baking sheet lined with parchment paper leaving enough space between them as it will rise and puff outward. If the Choux has a bump on the head after piping, dip your finger in water and pat down the pastry to make it even.
Place in a preheated oven on 200C for 15-20 minutes. Once you can see they've puffed up after the 15 minutes, reduce to heat to 175C and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Again, every oven's temperature may vary so use these times as a guideline.
Remove from the oven and using a sharp knife or toothpick, poke a small hole into the pastry to release excess steam and allow to cool on a rack.
To make the cream patisserie filling, read here
For the ganache, melt your cream in the microwave until hot. Add your chopped chocolate to the hot cream and allow to sit for a minute or two then stir the cream and chocolate until you have a smooth mixture.
Cut "lids" off the top of the pastry, fill with the pastry cream and top with ganache
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