Chou paste is one of the easiest and most omnipresent of all pâtisserie mixtures. From it one makes éclairs and cream puffs and all the desserts involving them, such as the profueroles an chocolat and the beignets soufflés—sometimes called French crullers in this country. An hors-d'oeuvre called gougère is made of puff paste combined with finely chopped Swiss cheese, and tiny nuts of puff paste are baked to use as a consommè garnish. The famous croqunemboucbe, gâteau Sainy-Honoré and religieuses are all made with choun paste.
The pastry tube can be mastered without too much difficulty, and chou paste is a particularly good choice to practice with, since it is less delicate than whipped cream, for instance, yet not so heavy as some other mixtures.
Pastry bags are usually made of heavy cotton cloth, and they come in various sizes. The bag is cone-shaped, and in the small end there is an opening just large enough for a cone-shaped metal tube. The tubes may be plain or shaped so that they can be used to make rosettes. bands, and fancy patterns. To fill the bag. fold the top edge about halfway down on the outside. This prevents the mixture from sticking to the top sides of the bag and being wasted. Put the filling in the bottom of the bag, and as you go, continue to unroll the edge. Leave enough space in the top to flatten the sides of the bag together and fold this sealed part over the filled part of the bag. Then grasp the top with the right hand and press down on the mixture while you guide the tube with the left hand, holding it close to the baking sheer. When the eclair or puff has been formed, stop pushing on the bag from above and raise the tube. Remember that chou paste puffs in baking to four or five times its original size. The paste may also be shaped with a spoon, which is simple enough in making cream puffs, but may be more complicated with éclairs.
Bake chou paste in a hot oven, so that it puffs immediately. To discourage overbrowning, the heat may be reduced after twelve or fifteen minutes. The puffs must be baked until they are thoroughly dry and feel light in the hand. A puff that is brown outside but still moist inside will collapse as it cools. If necessary, cover the puffs with paper to keep them from browning too much.
Pâte à Chou (Cream Puff and Eclair Paste)
In a small saucepan, bring to a boil 1 cup water, ½ cup butter, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar. Add all at once 1 cup flour and cook the pasteon a low fire, beating it briskly and constantly until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and the mixture cleanly leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in 4 eggs, one at a time If the eggs are unusually small, add an extra one.
To form cream puffs, drop the paste from a teaspoon or tablespoon, or force it through a pastry bag, onto a greased baking sheet, allowing space for expansion between the shapes. To make éclairs, use a pastry bag with a plain round tube. Force the mixture through the bag to make strips 3 ½ to 4 inches long and 1 inch wide or 2 inches long and ½ inch wide, depending upon the size desired. To make a ring. shape the paste on the baking sheet with a spoon. To glaze the top, brush it with dorure made by adding 1 tablespoon milk to 1 beaten egg. Bake the shells in a hot oven (425° F.) for 15 to 18 minutes, reduce the heat to moderate (375° F.) and bake until they are brown and feel light in the hand. If the shells start to get brown too quickly, cover them with a piece of paper.
Cream pulls and éclairs are filled with sweetened whipped cream or pastry cream (which in French are called crème Chantilly and crème pâlissière) or with crime Saint-Honoré. The shells must be thoroughly cooled before they are filled. To fill them the professional way, put the cream filling in a pastry bag, use the point of a knife to cut a tiny hole in the side of the éclair or cream puff and force the filling through the little hole. It may seem easier, in dealing with large éclairs and puffs, to slit the shell and fill it with a small spoon. Tiny puffs can also be pushed in at the top with a finger to make little tartlets, which are filled with a mound of crème pâtissière and glazed with caramelized sugar.
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