Eclairs, shu and profiteroles came to us from French cuisine. These are cakes empty inside, which fill with various fillings. What is the difference between eclairs, profiteroles and shu? The first are always made in an oblong shape. This is a dessert dish. Eclairs begin with custard, cream and other sweet creams. Profiteroles are small balls with a diameter of four centimeters. They are filled with both sweet and salted filling. But profiteroles are always served in sauce (chocolate, caramel). And if they are unsweetened, they serve as accompaniment to broths or soups. Shu differ from profiteroles only in the way they are served. At balls of dough, the top is cut, the hollow center is filled with filling and the lid is returned to its place. Thus, original sandwiches are obtained. But despite the differences in the shape and purpose of these cakes, choux pastry for eclairs, profiteroles and shu is made almost the same. How? We will talk about this in our article. With the exception of a few secrets that you need to know, there is nothing complicated in the process of making custard dough. You just need to make up your mind and start making round and oblong blanks, which then, when they cool, you can start anything.
Choux pastry principle
How are hollow cakes made? The fact is that the test contains a lot of liquid - water or milk. In the oven, it turns into steam, which "inflates" the dough, like a balloon. From the heat of the oven, the flour mass freezes on top with a crispy crust, and inside remains tender. The secrets of making custard dough for eclairs are few.
First: do not open the oven door during baking. Steam will come out and the balls will immediately deflate.
Second: observe the proportions of the products indicated in the recipe. The liquid in the test should be enough to inflate the workpiece. But in general, with Choux pastry (as the French call this kind of baking), problems should not arise. Choux pastry is good because it does not stale for a long time. It can be stored both raw and in baked pieces. As soon as the guests appear on the doorstep, we get the hollow pastries, start them with some minced meat (and even salads) and serve.
There are only three recipes for choux pastry for eclairs and similar baking: in water, in milk and in a mixture in equal proportions of these ingredients. Let's take a look at the ways of making cakes in turn. Let's start with the classic recipe, which we remembered from childhood as an amazing combination of cream, sugar or chocolate icing and a soft soft crust.
Choux pastry for eclairs: a recipe in accordance with GOST
Many housewives tried to make cakes the way they did in Soviet factories, and some succeeded. The whole problem is that in the recipe according to GOST the amount of ingredients is indicated in grams. So, water needs to be weighed, because a liter is not mass, but volume. It is also necessary to measure the weight of eggs without shells. After all, they can be both small and large, and we need exactly 300 grams by prescription.
So, step number 1. All ingredients are carefully weighed.
Step number 2. We measure out 200 grams of flour, which we sift right there. We also need to stock up 100 g of butter and 180 g of water. It should immediately be said that the principle of making custard dough for eclairs is fundamentally different from that for dumplings. In the second case, the flour is steamed with boiling water. Gluten is released and this provides the grasping properties of the dough. In eclairs we are not going to sculpt anything. Therefore, we proceed to the next stage.
Step number 3. Put butter, a pinch of salt, water in a saucepan and bring it all to a boil. Then pour in one portion all the prepared flour. Stir thoroughly.
Step number 4. When all the flour is properly brewed, transfer the dough to another dish so that it quickly cools to 60-70 degrees. Meanwhile, in a bowl, shake 300 grams of eggs. In terms of pieces, it will be five large or six standard.
Step number 5. Kneading We gradually shift the eggs into the choux dough for eclairs and quickly work with a spoon, mixing well, so that no lumps form. You should get a semi-liquid mass that can be loaded into the cooking syringe.
What further prescribes a step-by-step recipe according to GOST?
Bakery products
You need to turn on the oven in advance by 210 degrees. The environment in which the eclairs will be baked must be very hot so that the liquid in the dough immediately begins to turn into steam.
Step number 6. We cover the baking sheet with culinary parchment. We take the syringe and fill it with still warm mass. If there is none, we transfer the choux dough for eclairs to a tight bag, in which we cut off the tip. Pressing lightly on the bag, we plant oblong strips on the parchment. In principle, you can make round eclairs by simply spreading the dough with a tablespoon - this will not affect the taste of the cakes. You need to plant products away from each other, because in the oven they should increase in size.
Step number 7. Baking. For ten minutes we keep the cakes at a high temperature (210 ° C). Then you need to reduce the fire to 180 degrees. In this temperature regime, we bake the eclairs for about half an hour. We cool the blanks on a baking sheet. During this time, you should prepare the cream. If we already took up the eclairs in accordance with GOST, then we will continue to adhere to the classic recipe.
Pastry stuffing
Custard is soft, plastic. It is easy to insert it into the profiteroles cavity using a confectionery syringe, making a small hole in the crust of the cake, as you see in the photo. We have already figured out the custard test for eclairs (a step-by-step recipe is given above). A cream is even easier to make. It is also steamed, which is why it is called "custard." Mix the egg, 185 g of milk and 275 grams of sugar in a saucepan. A little beat up the mass with a whisk. Put the saucepan on a small fire, bring to a boil and cook, stirring continuously, for several minutes. In a separate bowl, combine 320 grams of room temperature butter with a bag of vanillin. Beat until light lush mass. Then move on to the next step. We begin, without ceasing to whisk, add in small portions a slightly cooled milk syrup. At the end, pour a large spoonful of cognac or liquor into the finished cream for flavor. Mass fill the confectionery syringe. By this time, the baked custard dough for eclairs should have completely cooled down. Carefully make a hole in the crust and stuff the preparation with cream. Cook sugar or chocolate icing. We cover the top of the cakes with it. You can do without glaze, but just sprinkle eclairs with powdered sugar.
French classic recipe
In the homeland of Choux pastry, they believe that the dough on one water comes out too hard. For profiteroles served with soups or in sweet sauce, and for shu stuffed with salad filling, this quality is useful. Products do not soak right away, but retain crisp properties well. But the cakes, according to the French, should be more tender and soft. And for such cases, they offer a special recipe for custard dough for eclairs. With the photo accompanying him, he does not look so complicated. The main condition for cooking is an equal ratio of water and farm milk (at least 3.5 percent fat).
Algorithm of actions:
1. We start by measuring out 140 grams of flour. We sift it right there. This will saturate the flour with oxygen, and therefore the eclairs will come out more airy.
2. In a pot or saucepan with a thick bottom, mix 125 milliliters of milk and water, a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. Add sliced butter (110 grams).
3. Put the pot on a small fire, stir.
4. After boiling, immediately pour all the flour. Whisk. Note: the pan is still on fire. We work with the mixer until the choux pastry for eclairs is easy to stick from the walls of the cauldron. Then form a gingerbread man and transfer it to a bowl.
5. Start adding five eggs one at a time. Beat thoroughly, achieving an absolutely smooth consistency.
6. We begin the confectionery bag and plant eclairs on parchment.
7. Put the baking sheet in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake 10 minutes. During this time, the blanks will rise, but remain white. Reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and continue baking for another half hour.
Secrets of Choux pastry
French pastries are more moody. So, you can not only open the oven door when baking, but even slam it when placing the pan. And in general, it is unacceptable for something to shake near the eclairs - the dough will fall off immediately. Another inconvenience is that cakes tend to stick tightly to baking paper. It is best to sprinkle it with flour before planting items. If you already know how to make choux dough for eclairs according to the French recipe, then remember a few tricks. The mixture in the cauldron should always be mixed with a spoon in the same direction. The same thing when you introduce the flour. Drive the next egg only when the dough has completely absorbed the previous one. Thus, you will control the smoothness and elasticity of the mass. You may need more or fewer eggs than five. The correct dough should not drip from the whisk of the mixer, but slide smoothly. Naturally, it should be uniform, smooth, slightly shiny. Above, we gave a basic step-by-step recipe for choux pastry for eclairs. But French chefs recommend freezing raw workpieces first. Before baking, the pan should be rearranged for twenty minutes in the refrigerator. The liquid in the test, having crystallized in the freezer, will give more steam, which will inflate the workpiece. Start the cakes immediately before serving or store them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag.
How to make Choux dough for eclairs in milk
The principle of preparation is similar to the previous recipe. Pour a glass of milk into the bowl, add a pinch of salt, butter or margarine. Just do not bring to a boil. When the mass begins to rise in foam, pour in the flour. Stir, without removing the saucepan from the heat, until the dough begins to stick to the walls. Remove from the stove and transfer for faster cooling in another bowl. Cool to 40-50 degrees. How to continue to cook choux dough for eclairs in milk? The recipe suggests taking a little more eggs. But, again, they need to be driven in one at a time and thoroughly kneaded with a spatula always in one direction. We put profiteroles or eclairs on a baking sheet covered with confectionery paper for five minutes in the oven, heated up to 200 degrees. Five minutes later, we open the door just enough to insert a match into the slot. So we let out excess steam from which products can crack. Note that the recipe for eclairs in milk does not imply the use of sugar in the test. The blanks are absolutely neutral in taste. They can be filled with savory fillings (salted feta cheese, cream cheese with garlic, etc.). If you want to make dessert eclairs, make a very sweet cream (on condensed milk, with chocolate, honey).
Vegetable Fat Recipe
Typically, choux pastry for eclairs and profiteroles is made in butter. To reduce the cost of products, some chefs use margarine. On the taste, such a substitution is reflected little. After all, margarine is still melted in a humid environment - water, milk or a mixture thereof. But such baking is a little harsh. We suggest you try another recipe. For custard dough for eclairs (you can see the photo of the finished mass in the article) in this case, vegetable oil will be used instead of margarine or butter. It imparts elasticity to the base of the cakes. Such blanks slowly become stale and remain soft. Pour into a saucepan one hundred grams of vegetable oil. Add a pinch of salt. Pour one hundred milliliters of boiling water. Immediately pour 150 g of sifted flour in advance and mix quickly. If we feel that the mass is cooling faster than we would like, we return the saucepan to a very small fire. As soon as the mixer nozzle begins to bind in the dough, take a wooden spatula and continue to knead, without changing the direction of rotational movements. Remove from the stove and drive two eggs in turn. Thoroughly knead a soft and very elastic dough. As you can see, here sugar is not added to the custard dough for eclairs. The recipe suggests using it only for cream. But if you want to make sweet buns, you can pour a spoonful of sugar in the phase of pouring boiling water into vegetable oil.
Another recipe for vegetable oil
The ingredients are the same, but their proportions are slightly different. And the algorithm of actions itself is different. Before making choux dough for eclairs, sift 200 grams of flour. We take a thick-walled pan, pour a glass of water and one hundred milliliters of vegetable oil. Do not forget about a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of granulated sugar. We put the pan on fire and bring its contents to a boil, continuously stirring with a wooden spatula. Pour all the flour. We continue to interfere in the same direction in circular motions. After a few minutes, you will see that the dough begins to stick off the walls of the pan. Turn off the stove. When the mass has cooled, you need to slowly beat in eggs. After the third, see if you still need to add them? If the dough reaches the consistency of a soft, homogeneous “mashed potato”, then it can be typed into a pastry bag and planted on a baking sheet. Such a mass is usually obtained thicker than that prepared in butter. Therefore, the dough can be filled with a special spoon for ice cream and plant round eclairs. Another advantage of this recipe is that the finished product does not stick to parchment. The vegetable oil contained in the dough serves as an additional lubricant. Cakes are baked as usual: first ten minutes at a very high temperature, and then from half an hour at 180 degrees.
Last few tips
So we learned how to make choux dough for eclairs. In the photo, the finished products look quite appetizing. But what needs to be done to make the cakes tasty? The secret to good eclairs is the correct steam ratio. If it is too small, the dough will not rise or the desired cavity will not form in the cake. And when the pair is too much, it can tear the surface of the product. Therefore, experienced cooks, turning off the oven, take out a baking sheet with products and make a small hole on the top of each cake with the tip of a knife. This, firstly, allows excess steam to escape, the cavity does not get wet, and the workpieces remain dry. And secondly, it’s better to make holes through which you will let the cream in on the still hot, soft eclair test. When the shell cools down, it can crack, and not a neat hole, but a cracked workpiece will result. If you have chosen a thick butter cream for eclairs, then it would be wise to cut the warm cake along and fill it with filling. As we recall, sugar is not used in many recipes, and if they are included in the list of ingredients, then in a very moderate amount. Excess sweet sand liquefies the dough, and it either does not rise or burns very much.