Pâte à Choux – Choux Pastry Dough

Pâte à choux (choux pastry dough) is used in cream puffs, eclairs, profiteroles, etc. It is a wonderfully light airy dough that rises to many times it’s original height when baked. I’ve heard people say that making choux pastry is hard.  It’s not. It’s easy.  Once you learn how to make pâte à choux you’ll be making cream puffs, eclaires, profiteroles and a bunch of other great French pastries all the time.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter
4-6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/8 tablespoon salt
1/4 tablespoon granulated sugar
5 ounces (by weight) all purpose flour

Tools & Supplies:

Electric mixer
Whisk
Saucepan
Mixing spoons

Instructions

Put the water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir continuously until steam is rising and a ring of little bubbles has formed along the edge around the entire circumference of the liquid. (Actually, if it comes to a light boil that’s OK to).

Vigorously stir in the flour using a wooden spoon.  Keep stirring (beating, really) until it forms a dough and clears the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let the dough sit and cool for a few minutes. (In the next step we’re going to be adding the eggs and we don’t want the dough so hot that it scrambles the eggs).

Once the dough has cooled a bit (It can still be warm, just not hot), place it in the mixer’s bowl.  Run the mixer on low for about three minutes to allow the dough to further cool.

One at a time, add the eggs. Each time you add an egg, observe the dough.  When the egg has been completely mixed in stop the mixer and examine the dough. If you have a stand mixer with a paddle then the dough should make a nice ‘V’ like you see in the accompanying photo. And the dough should glisten. You know you’ve added enough eggs when the dough glistens.  The dough in the accompanying photo needs one more egg.

Congratulations.  You’ve now made pâte à choux and can use it in the recipe of your choice.