Choux au Craquelin

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What a fancy name – choux au craquelin! But what does it mean you may ask. Let’s put it this way – imagine a choux pastry (cream puff), topped with a crunchy topping, greatly named craquelin. It does sound good, isn’t it?!

But let’s start with the very basic, shall we?! And that’s CHOUX PASTRY (also known as choux paste).

Mastering the art of making choux pastry is not as difficult as it may sound. Eclairs, cream puffs, beignets, chouquettes, croquembouche, St. Honore or churros are just some of the dessert that are made using this dough as a base. For years, I was afraid of this type of dough and just kept avoiding making it. But then my son claimed eclairs and cream puffs to be his favorite dessert, so I had no choice but to give it a try. It took me a few tries to find the perfect recipe, one that rises beautifully into puffs that are hollow inside, just ready to take in as much filling as possible, but I finally managed to get it right. I’m still on the search though, perfection can’t possibly be reached this easily when it comes to desserts!

Unlike other types of dough, choux pastry doesn’t have any levening agents. Instead, it relies on the power of steam to puff up. Now that’s interesting – flour, water, milk, fat, salt, a touch of sugar and eggs are the main ingredients of this dough, but they work like a charm!

When it comes to choux pastry recipes, the blogoshpere (and cookbooks for that matter) is flooded with all sorts of recipes and proportions, every one of them having a different milk or water proportion, using either butter or oil, adding salt and sugar or skipping them altogether. My recipe uses both milk and water since both are very important to the final baked product – milk and its proteins help the choux pastry support its shape and water helps keep a crispy outer shell. In terms of fat, I prefer butter for the same reasons mentiones above. I did bake recipes that use oil in the past and even though those are cheaper and maybe easier to make, the final result is not as good as the ones made with butter – the choux rise unevenly, they don’t turn as crispy and absorb moisture from the environment once baked. Made with butter on the other hand, they have a better crust, the taste is far superior, the inside is hollow and they remain crispy on the outside once baked. And that’s what we are after at a choux pastry!

One ingredient that is often looked at without much importance in the pastry world is salt. Adding salt to choux prevents the cracks in the choux once baked. Some pastry chefs prefer adding a touch of sugar as well – it helps with the browning of the shells (by touch I mean just a few grams per recipe – the choux pastry is not supposed to be a sweet dough; its taste is rather neutral).

If I were to name another element of great importance in choux pastry making, that would be the flour you use. Generally, a bread flour that has a higher protein content yields a more consistent result than cake flour or all-purpose flour. The higher the protein content of the flour, the better will the choux pastry rise and hold their shape, making hollow choux or eclairs instead of flat ones. A high protein content also yields a better, crispier shell as well.

The craquelin is the paste that goes over each choux or eclair just before baking and it’s usually made of butter, brown sugar and flour, although I have to admit I made it using powdered sugar as well and it was just as good. The great part about this dough is that it can be dyed any way you like, it can be flavored and generally, it’s a fun way to dress up your choux or eclairs. But beyond design, craquelin also helps keep the cream puffs even during baking and it’s becoming a technique that’s gaining more and more terrain for exactly that reason. It looks good, it tastes great and it helps with the shape of the final choux – what’s not to like about that?!

The baked cream puffs can be filled with pretty much anything, from the classic pastry cream to various other fillings, such as mousse, cremeux or ganache. In terms of flavors, the sky is the limit – vanilla and chocolate are some of the most common choices, but lemon, mango, earl grey, coffee, berries, amaretto, pumpkin or almonds are just a few of the flavors great chefs use for their choux cream puffs.

Servings :20 -30 cream puffs

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Ingredients

Craquelin:

85 g butter (softened)
95 g light brown sugar
95 g all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt

Choux pastry:

150 ml water
100 ml whole milk
100 g butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
150 g bread flour
4-5 eggs

Instructions

Craquelin:

Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl for a few minutes until creamy and pale.
Add the flour and salt and mix well.
Transfer the dough on a sheet of baking paper and cover it with another sheet of baking paper. Roll the dough into a very thin sheet, about 2-3mm thickness. Place the dough in the freezer until needed.

Choux pastry:

Combine the water, milk, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan and place over low heat until the butter is melted.
Once the butter is melted completely, turn the heat on high and bring to a boil.
The moment it comes to a boil, remove off heat and immediately add the flour, all at once. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the flour is well absorbed. Place the saucepan back over medium flame and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, mixing all the time, until a layer of dough remains on the bottom of the pan – keep the flame on medium to avoid burning and mix all the time with the spatula or spoon to cook out the liquid.
Remove from heat and allow the dough to cool down for 10 minutes.
Start incorporating the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition. Add the last egg bit by bit to make sure you’re not adding too much egg. The number of eggs used depends on the humidity of the dough, even on weather and the size of the eggs.
The dough is ready when it falls off the spoon and leaves a streak that doesn’t collapse on itself if you run your finger through it.
Spoon the dough into a pastry bag fitter with a round nozzle then pipe small dollops of dough on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat (baking paper yields wrinkled choux or eclairs).
Remove the craquelin from the freezer and cut small rounds of dough using a cookie cutter that is just as large as your piped dollops of dough. Carefully arrange the craquelin discs over each choux.
Bake in the preheated oven at 180C – 350F for 20 minutes then reduce the heat to 160C – 320F for another 15 minutes.
When done, the choux needs to be crispy, dried, well risen, golden brown and hollow inside, they shouldn’t flatten when cooled and they should remain crisp and dry.

Choux au Craquelin