Sweet Decadenze

With some time at hand, I have decided I will have another go at baking choux pastry since the first time I encountered this pastry during my baking class.  I confess my interest in choux pastry has been stirred ever since 2 of my ex-classmates from that class (who are now also my classmates in the current class) started discussing about their experiences with baking choux pastries at their own homes.

Choux pastry is made using a pre-cooked roux of flour, water and fat (butter or margarine).  “Choux” (pronounced as “shoo”) is a French word meaning cabbage.  The characteristics of the baked Choux pastry should be dry and crisp.  The batter must be dried out properly during baking or you will get a collapsed product.  The Choux is suitable for use in both sweet and savoury items by just adding the suitable filling.

The basic ingredients of Choux pastry are: -

1. Flour
2. Sugar (optional)
3. Eggs
4. Fat
5. Salt
6. Water or Milk

The preparation and the piping of the batter on baking paper are relatively easy.  It’s the pre-baking to post-baking process which unnerves me.  Before sending the piped batter into the oven, they should be sprinkled with some water on the surface using a water spray.  I have seriously forgotten the reason why, but I’m not about to skip that step, for I remember it being a step paramount to successful Choux pastry baking.

Next, there are other precautions to take while it is in the oven.  The oven has to remain closed for at least 15 minutes; the pastry has to totally dry out before it is considered baked; and bringing the baked Choux out of the oven too soon will result in a collapsed pastry.

It all seemed so simple during the class with the instructor around during the class.

If all is well, I would like to try baking some Choux pastry tonight or sometime this week.  I have not decided whether to work on the sidebar widgets for this blog or to do some baking tonight yet!