Pâte à choux is an interesting thing to work with. We made all sorts of things with the pâte à choux paste. We made Swedish puffs (creme puffs), eclairs, swans, and Paris Brest. If you get the paste right, then all you have to do is pipe the right shape for everything else. Ha, that isn't as easy as it sounds.
The Swedish puffs are like blobs. You don't want varying pressure when you pipe them or they will be all wonky. The eclairs are just straight, 3 inch long lines. Chef showed us the easiest way to be exact is to draw lines on the parchment and then turn it over. That made it go a little faster.Swans have multiple parts. First there is the body. That is rounded on one side and then angled at the other. You also need a neck piece. I burned my first batch of necks but got it right on the next ones.
The Paris Brest is donut shaped and has ridges and almonds. You cut 1/3 of it off and pipe in a praline choibust. You dust all but the eclairs with powdered sugar. The eclairs get melted chocolate.
All in all, these were fun but I need more practice piping out the shapes to be more exact.Next post, cookies!!!
Nice work with the swan necks! They are so delicately made. Very impressive!
ReplyDeleteThose swans are gorgeous! Thanks for all the wonderful pictures of the things you make. It is really interesting to see how pastries are made. Thanks lots!
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