Choux Pastry
Choux rises on its own water: in the oven that water turns to steam and inflates the shell from the inside. Which gives two rules. The panade has to be dried so it can take up more egg, and the eggs go in gradually, because how many you need depends on their size and on how much moisture you drove off.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Total
- 1 h 5 min
- Servings
- 24
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 85 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: 24 éclairs, 12 cm each
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
Oven
200 °C · top and bottom heat, no fan
With a fan: 180 °C
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Step 1: Bring to a full boil
Combine the water, milk, butter, salt and sugar and bring to a rolling boil. The butter must melt before the liquid boils, or some of the water evaporates and the proportions shift.
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Step 2: All the flour at once
Off the heat, tip in all the flour in one go and beat hard with a spatula until the mass gathers into a ball.
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Step 3: Dry the panade
Back on medium heat, stir and press the dough against the base for 2–3 minutes until a thin film forms on the pan. That film is evaporated water — the room you have just made for the eggs.
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Step 4: Cool to 60 °C
Transfer to a bowl and stir for 2–3 minutes to let the steam out. Any hotter and the eggs will simply scramble.
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Step 5: Eggs one at a time
Beat each egg in completely before the next goes in. After the third, stop and look at the dough.
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Step 6: Judge the texture
Lift the spatula: the dough should fall in a wide triangle within 3 seconds and the trail should close slowly. If it is too stiff, beat the last egg separately and add it by the spoonful.
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Step 7: Pipe the shells
Pipe 12 cm lengths with 4 cm between them. Flatten any sharp peaks with a wet fingertip; in the oven they burn.
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Step 8: Bake without peeking
15 minutes at 200 °C, then 20 minutes at 170 °C, and do not open the door: if the steam escapes before the walls set, the shells collapse. Pierce them when done and give them 5 minutes in the switched-off oven.
Tips & variations
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Tip
The eggs are the one ingredient you judge by eye. Four large ones can be too many, so always beat the last one separately and add it in stages.
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Tip
The dough only works warm. Left to go cold, the piped shells rise poorly and stay dense inside.
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Variation
The same dough pipes into profiteroles — 3 cm rounds. The baking time drops to about 25 minutes in total.
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Storage
Empty shells keep a day in a paper bag or a month in the freezer. Three minutes at 180 °C before filling brings the crispness back.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 24 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 85 kcal | 2,040 kcal |
| Protein | 2 g | 48 g |
| Fat | 6 g | 144 g |
| Carbohydrates | 7 g | 168 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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