Pâte à choux, pronounced (pat-a-shoe) is one of the most versatile and adaptable doughs within your classic French pastry arsenal. In fact, I think many would be surprised to find out that some of their favorite dishes, sweet or otherwise, are actually created from choux dough.

To elucidate: take your basic pâte à choux; when baked in the oven they are transformed into what we call cream puffs or profiteroles. Which can be filled with endless variants of sweet or savory fillings.  Pipe the same dough instead into 3 or 4 inch long lines, bake, and behold the eclair. Deep fry balls of choux and cover in powdered sugar, there’s your beignet. Mix with cheese and you’ve got gougéres. Mashed potatoes render the crispy savory pommes dauphine. The list, unlike the writer, is virtually inexhaustible.

The Three Faces of Choux

France is recognized and often revered for their long-standing obsession with food. As a disciple of the same denomination, so to speak, I will be the first to admit that some of this reverence is justly deserved. However, if the stories are to be believed, pate a choux, though spawned in France had an Italian creator-one Panterelli, executive chef for the royal Italian court of the Medicis.

When Catherine de Medici was given in marriage to the Duke of Orleans, who was later to become Henry II, King of France, she brought with her not only the usual retinue of lackeys but included the familial kitchen staff in its entirety. And so Panterelli found himself in France cooking in a strange land among strange chefs. Perhaps in an effort to establish his superiority in the kitchen, Panterelli created his dough, perhaps he lost a bet, maybe, like so many dishes it was created by accident. No matter the catalyst, Panterelli created a revolutionary kind of dough, one that was baked twice, once on the stove top and again in the oven. With paternal pride, he dubbed his creation pâte à Panterelli, fashioning this most primal form of choux dough into a large filled cake.

Years later, pâte à Panterelli was revamped by the licentious chef Popelin. Unwilling to break the trend, Popelin named the individually sized buns after himself and through some artful kitchen manipulation involving blueberries, caused them to resemble women’s breasts. This is arguably the change that skyrocketed Panterelli’s quotidian dough into the popular dessert that found its way into kitchens and pâtisseries across Europe.

The dough went through another name change by the mid-eighteenth century thanks to the pastry chef, Avice, who seemingly had produce on the brain more often than anatomy. Insisting they resembled little cabbages, Avice bestowed upon them their current moniker pâte à choux, choux being the French word for cabbage. The inoffensive if somewhat banal brand stuck and today we think brussel sprout instead of boobie.

“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.”

                                                                                                                                                                       -Voltaire

Suffice it to say that choux dough is possibly the most versatile dough ever created so it stands to reason that you should have a reliable recipe that is not only easier to make than the classic technique but produces an arguably better product.

This recipe includes the technique for making the sweet topping commonly seen on choux buns called craquelin. This is a totally optional step and one that should be left out entirely if your pate a choux is destined for a savory use. However not only does it elevate the taste and texture of a normal cream puff but it renders a rounder more aesthetically pleasing bun.

Pâte à Choux

Ingredients

Pâte à Choux (Cream Puffs)

½ cup water

½ cup whole milk

8 Tablespoons butter, unsalted

1 tsp salt, kosher

2 tsp sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

Choux Craquelin

4 Tablespoons butter

⅓ cup brown sugar

½ cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

Instructions

For the Choux Craquelin

Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.

Blend until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated and starting to pull away from the walls of the processor and form a cohesive dough.

Pour the Craquelin out onto a sheet of parchment paper and using your hands, press together into a flattish square. Cover with another piece of parchment and using a rolling pin, roll out very thin. Transfer to a baking sheet and freeze until ready to use.

For the Pâte à Choux

In a saucepan bring the water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil.

Immediately remove from heat and add in the flour.

Using a wooden spoon stir vigorously. Return to medium-high heat and cook continuing to stir briskly for 1-2 minutes. The dough should begin to pull away from the sides and form a ball in the pan, and a film should develop on the bottom of the pan.

Traditional Method

Transfer the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer and using the paddle attachment mix on low until cooled (5-7 minutes). Add in the eggs one at a time, thoroughly combining each egg into the mixture before adding the next. Keep mixing until the dough gets quite thick and stiff.

Alternative Method 

This is the traditional method for making pâte à choux, however, if you have a Vitamix or some other high powered blender I would suggest an alternative approach. After cooking your flour, milk, butter mixture on the stove top instead of transferring the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer transfer it to your blender. Allow to cool for ten minutes or so then using a spatula press the dough over to one side so the blades and bottom of at least half the blender is visible. This is a thick dough and allowing space for you eggs makes it much easier on the blender. Now add in all your eggs and blend until smooth. Your end product should be thick enough to hold its shape when piped and ultra smooth. If it’s not thick enough just blend it a little longer it will be. Since I discovered this method it’s the only way I make pâte à choux and the results have been perfect every time.  

Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large, plain, round tip and pipe out 12 large choux ( I did 40g each and got 15). These are quite large once baked so if you’d like something a little more delicate feel free to do something more along the lines of 15g for each.

To Bake the Choux

Preheat your oven to 450℉

Remove the craquelin from the freezer and using a small round cookie cutter cut out enough disks for each, placing them carefully on the center of each choux.

Place in the center of your oven and bake for 5 minutes.

Turn down the heat to 350℉ and bake an additional 30 minutes. Then leaving the oven door slightly ajar allow the choux to cool in the oven for another 15 minutes. Remember if making smaller choux to shorten your baking time!

Remove from the oven and let cool completely before filling.

The Danish has long been a staple for many, a convenient, portable, and most importantly delicious accompaniment to our morning cup of coffee. Like Madonna or Cher, the Danish has become a mononym. Walk into any coffee shop in America and there is no need to pronounce more than a single word. Sometimes even a look will suffice if the barista is attentive and the need critical.

Curious then that this well-known pastry travels under a moniker that is rife with contradiction. One might suppose that the name since it appears to specify, might connote where it originated. Not the case! The Danish is not from Denmark at all but instead traces its roots back to Austria.

How it traveled to Denmark, assumed an alias, and subsequently left its past behind it without a second glance, is cause for much debate throughout the communities that care. And since this discussion involves breakfast pastry it’s safe to say we all fall into that category.

In the 1840’s it was understood that the Austrians had a way with dough, a special understanding that allowed them to achieve things the rest of Europe and the world could only envy. It’s rumored that in an effort to learn the secret of the Viennese bakers, a Dane by the name of N.C. Albeck traveled to Austria working in bakeries until he had mastered the technique himself then bringing it back to Denmark. Scandalously dubbing it wienerbrød or Viennese bread on his return.

Another version of the narrative maintains that in the 1880’s, some forty years after Albeck supposedly conducted his externship in Austria, the bakers of Denmark went on strike. In an effort to release themselves from the feudalistic practice of the day (in which the bakers received nothing for their labors other than room and board) the bakers refused to bake. Turns out their lackluster non-laminated doughs weren’t missed very long. Following immediately on the heels of the strike, the highly skilled hands of Austrian bakers were brought in to replace them. Soundly beaten, the Danes came back to their old jobs. Though nothing had changed monetarily they did get to keep the Austrian recipes.

Some residual wanderlust, presumably from their Viking ancestors, made it a common practice for Danish pastry chefs referred to as “suitcase bakers” to travel, learning techniques and sharing their own as they went. The Austrian method for laminating dough, now common practice throughout the country was taken with them and shared with the world. And though the name continues to mislead, how mad can you really stay after your first bite of Danish.

“All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.”

                                                                                                                                        -John Gunther

Not So Danish Pastry

Ingredients

1 Recipe Rough Puff Pastry

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp honey

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1 egg, beaten

Fresh Fruit, I used raspberries but you can use whatever you fancy

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425℉

If your pastry dough is already made, the task of making a Danish is a simple one. If not, head over to my recipe for Rough Puff Pastry for a relatively simple way to achieve a laminated dough.

Though Danish come in many forms and sizes, many of them a series of intricate loops and knots I prefer a simpler approach that enables me to fill my Danish to the brim with a honeyed cream cheese icing and leaves plenty of room for lots of fresh berries.

For the Pastry

Remove your chilled dough from the refrigerator and roll into a 17×16-inch rectangle. Trim the edges so they are neat and straight, I like to use a large ruler and a pizza cutter. After trimming you should have a rectangle around 16½x15-inches. Working on the shorter side, divide your dough into three long rectangles each 5 inches wide. Now cut each rectangle into three 5×5½-inch squares leaving you with nine total.

Using a paring knife score small squares within each rectangle of dough. Within each scored square, use a fork to “dock” your dough. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it’s when you use the tines of a fork to perforate the dough. This allows steam to escape and prevents the dough from rising. This should help the middle of your dough stay more compact in the oven and give you a lip of pastry around the edges. Do this to all you squares, then place them in the refrigerator to chill for roughly 10 minutes.

For the Cream Cheese Filling

While the dough chills, prepare your honeyed cream cheese filling. Be sure the cream cheese is quite soft; this helps you achieve a truly smooth filling and prevents lumps from forming in the icing. Add all your ingredients to a bowl and combine using a hand mixer. When thoroughly combined, transfer the cream cheese into an icing bag with a large tip and set aside for later use.

For the Egg Wash

To make the egg wash, beat your egg with a small amount of water in a bowl.

Remove your chilled dough from the refrigerator and egg wash the edges of each square then sprinkle with some Sanding Sugar to add a sweet crunch.

For the Baking and Assembly

Bake the squares for five minutes at 425℉ then lower the temperature to 350℉ continuing to bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until the puff pastry has risen and achieved a beautiful golden hue.

Once the puff pastry has finished baking, allow it to cool several minutes. If your scoring did not do quite what you hoped it would i.e. keep the center of your pastry from rising, do not be disheartened. It’s not a full-proof method but it does help and should be employed. Using a small spatula or spoon press down the center of each square along the line you scored. Press firmly enough to create a marked ridge of dough all the way around the pastry.

Do this to all your pastry squares. Fill each of the hollows you created with a generous amount of the cream cheese icing and top with your choice of fresh fruit and an optional sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar.

The Turnover and its endless variants have been around for centuries. Each nation seems to have its own variation of the pastry. Spanish Empanadas, Chinese Dim Sum, Indian Samosas. The list is virtually endless; the fillings vary with the region and seasonal availability but the basic folded pastry dough encasing sweet or savory fillings does not. The first written documentation of the turnover dates back to 1753 but the practice of crafting these portable pies date much further back than that. And with good reason, easy to cook, inexpensive, and most of all portable. The turnover and its ilk were convenient, especially for ancient nomadic tribes.

Because the turnover has been such an intrinsic part of so many nation’s diets it’s hard to say who came up with what when. Like most things edible it can be traced back to the French. If not the very first turnover, at least the first of the apple variety, or Chausson aux Pommes. Legend has it that in 1630 in St. Calais, in the Sarthe region of France, an epidemic had spread. The lady of the town, or the Chatelaine, in an effort to relieve their suffering, supplied the afflicted people with flour and apples. The resulting pastry was what we now know as apple turnovers. We can only assume that since the town is still in existence today, and thriving, that the apple turnovers were responsible for the town’s recovery and the regained health of all its inhabitants.

The event is remembered and celebrated annually with the Fete du Chausson aux Pommes. Each year at the beginning of September the inhabitants of Saint Calais hold a medieval festival. It is rumored that the bakers of the town “roll” out their ovens into the street, baking and distributing apple turnovers at an incredible rate. The logistics of the ovens making it from the kitchen to the street has never been fleshed out, but apparently, some residual apple turnover magic remains, enabling the inconceivable to happen yearly.

Apple Turnovers or Chausson aux Pommes

Ingredients

1 Recipe Rough Puff Pastry

Apple Compote

1lb. (app. 6) Golden Delicious apples, quartered

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup water

Diced Apples

0.8 lb (app. 1½) Granny Smith apples, diced

1 Tbsp butter,  unsalted

1/3 cup brown sugar.

Egg wash

2 egg yolks mixed with a few drops of water

Simple Syrup

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

Instructions

For the Simple Syrup

Combine equal amounts of sugar and water in a small pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, at which point the simple syrup can be kept in the refrigerator.  

–Simple syrup can be scaled up or down depending on how much you want, I always double or even treble the recipe when I’m making it so I can have a good amount on hand. Simple syrup can be used in a plethora of applications from cocktails to cakes and having some on hand at all times is highly recommended.

For the Apple Compote

Quarter the golden delicious apples, removing the seeds and stems. Place the apples, vanilla, and water into a pan and cook covered over med/low heat for roughly 10 minutes or until the apples have completely softened. Transfer the steamed apples into a blender and mix until completely smooth.

If the blended apples appear liquidy, transfer them back into the pan and cook them down uncovered until any excess liquid has evaporated.

While the blended apples are cooking down dice the Granny Smith apples into uniform squares. Combine the apples with butter and sugar in a large sauté pan and cook for 10 minutes on high heat. Drain the sauteéd apples and fold them into the apple compote.

Place in the refrigerator uncovered, and let cool completely. The apple filling can be refrigerated for up to 6 days, however, it should be covered after it has initially cooled.

For the Puff Pastry

Preheat your oven to 450℉.

Lightly flour your work surface, since you’re using a laminated dough something that will remain cold like marble or metal is preferable. Divide puff pastry into two pieces and refrigerate the other half or freeze for later use. Roll out dough into a 14×14-inch square about a ¼ of an inch thick. Divide dough into eight disks roughly 4½ inches in diameter.  When they are all cut out return them to the refrigerator and allow to chill for ten to fifteen minutes.

–While the dough is chilling whisk up your egg wash (yolk + water) and set aside.

For the Assembly

When the disks have been chilled line two or three of them out onto your work surface.

Laying the rolling pin in the center of the disks roll up and down, 12 to 6 o’clock. Do not roll all the way to the end but instead concentrate only on the center of the disks.

Brush off any excess flour and scoop out the chilled apple filling; approximately 1 heaping Tablespoon per turnover.

When the disks have all been filled, use a small pastry brush to brush the edges with water and fold over sealing well with your fingertips.

Flip the turnovers over before placing them onto your parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush their surfaces with egg wash and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Brush a second coat of egg wash onto their surface before scoring their surface with the back of a paring knife. Be sure to make a small hole in the center of each turnover to enable the steam to escape and prevent the turnovers from breaking open at the seam in the oven. Bake immediately, or return to the refrigerator until ready to bake.

–Unbaked apple turnovers can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

Bake the turnovers at 450℉ for five minutes before turning the oven down to 350℉. Continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes.

When the turnovers have finished baking allow them to cool for several minutes before varnishing them with the simple syrup.

Mention laminated doughs to most bakers and you’ll see them visibly cringe at the memory of making their own. Mention laminated doughs to almost anyone else and see their eyes glaze over in a complete failure to understand what you’ve just said. Although many people haven’t heard of laminated dough, everyone has enjoyed eating it. Croissants, Danish, puff pastry, and the host of other typical café fare are all created using dough of the laminated variety.

However laminated dough is not typically made in most home kitchens, or even in most commercial kitchens (many bakeries and restaurants buy theirs) and with good reason. The traditional process of making this form of dough is notoriously time-consuming. But what if there were another way? A shortcut so to speak, where one could achieve those buttery layers without investing two days of their lives in the process?

Well, there is. Known as Rough Puff or Blitz Puff Pastry this method effectively quarters your time in the kitchen and produces an almost identical dough to that of the traditional variety. While the ingredients remain the same the major difference lies in the method of incorporation. In the classic laminated dough, a thick slab of butter is encased in an “envelope” of dough. Then rolled out, folded into thirds, and rolled again. Between each of these “turns”, as they are called, the dough must rest for twenty minutes or longer. And the number of turns generally lands somewhere between 7-9. As you can imagine the time invested really starts to add up.

By incorporating the butter into the flour in chunks we disperse the fat throughout the dough from the very beginning, effectively cutting down the number of necessary turns. Folding the dough and rolling it out in the traditional manner ensures the same layers. The secret behind laminated dough is steam. Puff pastry starts as a lean dough (flour and water) that is combined with an obscene amount of butter. In the oven, the water in the dough and in the butter is transformed into steam. The steam provides just enough force to lift and separate the layers of dough before evaporating in the oven leaving behind the delicate flaky pastry.

-Since many commercial brands of puff pastry use shortening, it is really worth the time and effort to make your own. Not only is it exponentially healthier to use real butter, but it also tastes much better. 

Rough Puff Pastry

Ingredients

4 cups Flour

2 ¼ cups Unsalted Butter (4 ½ sticks)

½ cup Ice Water

1 Tbsp. Fine Salt

½ tsp. Lemon Juice (if not using your pastry the same day, this addition of acid prevents discoloration in the dough.) 

Instructions

Pour your flour onto a countertop, preferably marble.

Using your hands, make a “well” in the center of your pile of flour.

Add the cold butter and salt into the center of the well.

Using your hands, work the butter and flour together, bringing the flour from the outside into the middle. When you’re done it should look something like this, big chunks of butter will still be obvious but they should be evenly dispersed throughout. Now add the water and work it into a dough.

Roll out your dough, once again big chunks of butter will be visible but this is what you want. It won’t be very pretty but do not fear, after one or two turns the dough will become lovely and smooth.

See? This dough is only on its second turn and is already much smoother. Each turn consists of the above actions. Rolling into a rectangle, folding up one-third of the dough, folding down the other third. Turn and roll out again.

Limit your rolling and turning to two times. To help keep track of your turns, use your fingers to make small indentations.

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