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Cream Puff Dough (Pate a Choux) Video Recipe ^{0}

The video for the video recipe ‘Cream Puff Dough (Pate a Choux) seemed to have not made it into the final e-book, “Valentine’s Desserts”.  If you could not access or view the video tutorial on your e-book, I have uploaded it into this post.

For those who haven’t checked out my newest multimedia ebook, “Valentine’s Desserts”, here’s a great free peak at one of the video recipes.  You can order “Valentine’s Desserts” for you iPad, Kindle, or Nook for just 99 cents.

Pate a choux, also known as Cream Puff Pastry, is the classic French pastry dough used to make cream puffs and eclairs.  The ideal pastry has a thin, crispy crust surrounding a mostly hallow center.  It is easy to make, and with a little practice with a pastry bag, you can create fun edible containers suitable for holding pastry cream, whipped cream, chocolate mousse, and any number of both sweet and savory fillings.

Below is one recipe from the Valentine’s Desserts recipe ebook that follows the above video.

Cream Puff Swans

Pate a choux (cream puff dough)

Approximately  6 swans

½ C  water

2 oz. butter, cut into pieces

½ C all purpose or bread flour

2  to 3 eggs

1.  Pre heat oven to 425⁰.
2. Combine water and butter in a 1 qt. saucepan. Cook, over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts. Bring to a full boil.  Do not boil the water until the butter is melted.  Too much water loss during boiling will change the water-to-flour ratio of the dough.
3. Turn off the heat, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or spatula.  Do not use a whisk…the dough will collect inside the whisk and be difficult to remove.  Do not stop stirring until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot, forms a ball, and follows the spoon around the pot.
4. Allow the dough to cool to 140⁰.  This will take about 5 minutes.  If using a stand mixer, transfer the dough to the mixer bowl and use the paddle attachment.  If mixing by hand, leave the dough in the pot (fewer dishes to wash!) and  use the wooden spoon.
5. Add one egg, mix thoroughly.  Use low speed if using the stand mixer.  Add the second egg and mix thoroughly.  The dough should look smooth and glossy, and be stiff enough to hold its shape when piped or dropped onto a baking sheet.  The goal is to mix as much egg into the dough as possible without the dough becoming too soft.
6. If the dough looks dull and very stiff, lightly beat the last egg and add a little at a time until the dough is smooth and glossy.
7. Using a pastry bag fitted with a number 5 star  bakery tip, pipe 6 large “shells”  approximately 3” long onto a parchment-lined baking pan for the swan bodies.  Leave two inches between pastries for expansion.
8. Using a pastry bag fitted with a number 1 plain bakery  tip, or a number 8 plain cake decorating tip, pipe 6 swan necks onto a separate baking pan lined with parchment paper. Pipe the dough into a backward “S”, making the top slightly bulbous.  The length of the “S”  will be about 2 ½” to 3” long.
9. Bake the swan necks  at 375⁰ for approximately 15 or 20 minutes.
10. Bake  the swan bodies at 425⁰ for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400⁰ for another 10 minutes.  Do not open the oven door, or the puffs could deflate.  Reduce the oven to 375⁰, bake 5 minutes and then check for doneness.

Tests for doneness:

• Pastry is evenly colored to a  medium golden brown.
• No beads of moisture remain on the outside of the pastry.
• When tapped firmly on the top, the pastry feels rigid, not springy.
• The pastry will sound hollow when tapped.

1.  Allow to cool at room temperature before filling.  The puffs can be frozen for a few weeks if well wrapped.  Thaw, and refresh in a 350⁰ oven for 5 minutes before filling.
2. To assemble the swans, use a serrated knife to slice off the top of the cream puff.  Cut this piece in half lengthwise. This will become the swan wings. The bottom portion of the puff will be the swan body.  Fill the bottom of the shell with sliced strawberries.  Pipe or spoon sweetened whipped cream on top of the strawberries.  Insert the swan neck, narrow end down, into the whipped cream, positioned at the front of the swan (the wider end of the puff).  Position the cut edges of the “wings” on the whipped cream.  Sift a light dusting of powdered sugar over the swans.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

1 C heavy cream

2 Tbl. sifted powdered sugar (more or less to suite your sweet tooth)

½ tsp. vanilla

Whip the cream and vanilla until the cream begins to thicken.  Add the sugar, whip to medium peaks.  If not used immediately, store in the fridge.

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