Choux Pastry: The making of Cream Puffs, Eclairs, Crullers & Churros

The other day I saw a post from a friend, she was eating an Éclair, and I thought, “Wow! It’s been a long time since I have made Cream Puffs….” of course Éclairs and Cream Puffs are made of the same Choux Pastry but did you know that Mexican Churros and British Yorkshire Pudding are also creations made from Choux pastry? All of these pastries sound quite exotic, foreign and difficult but actually they are not hard to make at all.

I remember my mom making Cream Puffs when I was a child, it seems like one of those memories that happened frequently but my mom said she only made them a couple of times in my childhood. That’s a good reminder for you parents out there, do something special and your kids will remember it as though you did it often. Kids are awesome like that.

I remember coming home from school and seeing my mom at the kitchen stove, she was stirring the Choux (although I’m quite sure she didn’t know it’s fancy French name, to her it was just eggs, butter, water and flour). Then she formed golf ball size blobs of the pastry on a cookie sheet and placed them in the oven. When she removed them, the cream puffs had puffed up the size of baseballs. Then she allowed them to cool, cut off the top and filled them with custard. She would place the little “hat” back on the Cream Puff and drizzle with chocolate.

Well, I was very impressed with this little culinary “stunt” my mom pulled off. That woman had skills. As I was preparing this blog, I asked her why this country girl from Kansas could make this fancy dessert. She said she learned it from my Grandmother, my Italian Grandmother, her mother-in-law. Yep, all good things come from Italy!

So I researched the history of Cream Puffs and they DO come from Italy…but by way of France. In the 1540’s, Catherine di Medici (of the Italian Florence Renaissance fame) whose chef (Italian of course) made Cream Puffs as a surprise for her husband, the King of France. They were in France at the time, so France takes credit for it but I think we can see who the real inventor was!

The British are also fond of the Choux pastry and include it on the Sunday roast menu as Yorkshire pudding. Usually it is baked in muffin tins with a little fat from the roast spooned on the bottom of each muffin, when it bakes it puffs up beautifully.

Eclairs are made with the same Choux but piped long, like a lady finger. They are also baked, split open and filled with whipped cream or custard.

I read that in ancient times they would split open the pastry while still hot and stuff it with some cheese and fresh herbs. I decided to give this a try and devoured it! I mean, I literally walked outside, hid in a sunny corner away from a Jeff and ate them all! They were so cheesy with fresh thyme and puffy soufflé-like goodness. Ok, I gotta give credit for that little tasty morsel to the French…if only I had some white wine to enjoy with it! But alas, it was only ten in the morning and I hadn’t lost all control of time and propriety with the Quarantine….but I did think seriously about pouring myself a glass before brushing the thought away…

Lastly, there are the fried versions of Choux pastry. These are the French donut or Cruller that I always loved at my local donut shop and the Mexican Churro that is a favorite at the fair and markets. The churro is a long ribbed Choux pastry that is fried and coated with cinnamon and sugar. Wow! With so many tasty options, why not try a Choux Pastry Dessert yourself this week?

Choux Pastry

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 4 large eggs at room temperature

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Bring the water, butter and salt to a rapid boil in a saucepan over high heat. Remove the pan from the burner and add all the flour at once., Stir strongly. Return the pan to medium high heat and continue stirring strongly until a light film forms over the bottom of the pan and the dough is smooth and soft and forms a ball when stirred. Remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or stir by hand for a strong workout! Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. After the final egg is added, beat on high for at least 2 minutes, but not more than 4.
• Scoop the dough into 16 balls on the pan. You can use a pastry bag to pipe circles, piping in smaller toward the top.

• Place pan in the oven, bake for 15 minutes. Do not open door, after 15 minutes, lower the heat to 375°F and cook for an additional 15 minutes. When the time is up, turn off the oven and stick the handle of a wooden spoon in between the body of the stove and the door to hold it open just a little and let the cream puffs cool in the oven like that for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. You can serve them immediately or cool to room temperature.

• Break open a cream puff at the midline (much like a muffin). Place the bottom on a plate, put a good sized scoop of ice cream or vanilla pudding on the base, add the top part of the cream puff and drizzle with chocolate sauce.

• To “do-ahead” you can put the pan of uncooked Choux pastry that has been formed into balls directly into the freezer, after they have frozen solid, move them to a freezer bag or container. (When it’s time to bake them, add 5 minutes to the baking time at the end)