Some new choux

It has been way to long since my last post. Never planned on taking a long break like this. It has been a busy time, both personally and professionally. Unfortunately something had to be put on the back burner, and this was it.

Since my last post I competed in Lyon in The Coupe du Monde (4th place) and Dubai in the World Hospitality Championship ( 2nd place and gold medal). We completed a photo shoot for the 300 pictures that will go in my text book, The Advanced Art of Baking and Pastry. All of my writing energy was focused into completing the manuscript for the book.

Most recently I was one of four candidates taking the CMPC exam in August. Taking the exam challenged me to take on tasks I had not done before. It is always good to challenge yourself. At the end of the exam there were no new Certified Master Pastry Chefs. However, preparing for the exam and taking the exam has inspired me to keep pushing and sharing. 

I have seen pictures of pate a choux that looked like it was baked in a mold. Over a year ago I started playing around with this. The first attempt led me to use a stainless steel mold. At first I didn't think this would work. Would there be enough heat to create a cavity? Would enough moisture escape from the mold to properly dry the choux? Using the mold I was able to confirm the choux would puff, but not enough moisture was escaping. All that was left in the end was a collapsed gummy dough. The testing of the molded pate a choux was put on hold so I could focus on other projects.

Learn what you can from the first test and move onto the second. I needed a way to let the moisture escape. Looking back through the images I found, it became clear that the choux had a texture. Very similar to the texture of a silpan. I cut a strip of silpain to line the mold and it worked, all that was left was to determine the baking time and temperature. This will vary with every oven and a little trial and error will need to be conducted in your oven. 

Pate a Choux

225 gr              Milk

25 gr                Cream

125 gr              Butter

5 gr                  Sugar

1.5gr                Salt

65 gr                AP flour

65 gr                Bread flour

250 gr              Eggs

Method:

Boil; milk, cream, sugar, salt and butter

Sift flours, add off the stove

Cook on low heat

Transfer to a mixer, cool a little

Gradually add eggs

Pipe into mold

 Bake at 300-320 F Convection

Trim the silpain to fit the ring, a slight overlap is OK. 

Too much and the choux will not bake in this spot.

Place the lined rings onto a flat sheet pan lined with a silpain.

Fill the mold about 1/2 way. 

Place another silpain on top of the molds and top with another flat sheet pan

You can check the choux while it is baking, I found it could take 45-60 minutes to bake fully.