Hmmmm… who doesn’t remember a delicious homemade custard finished with relish by the teaspoonful? In pastry-making, it’s probably the second most widely used cream after crème pâtissière. We tend to confine it to making floating islands or chocolate fondants, and that’s a shame!
Although it was invented at the English court in the 16th century, it has become a staple of French patisserie that needs to be mastered to perfection. Not least because it serves as the base for Bavarian cream, which is a regular feature of CAP pastry recipes such as bavarois and charlottes. Continue reading “Home-made custard”
Choux pastry is a technique that gives a lot of CAP pastry apprentices the willies. In my opinion, the most complicated thing about this recipe is that it’s hard to know what went wrong. You may have the impression that you’re doing everything right, but in the end your preparation doesn’t puff up or falls over. So let’s take a look at the tips and techniques for successful choux pastry!
Tips for a successful choux pastry
It’s worth noting that every pastry chef has his or her own technique for making a successful choux pastry (especially when it comes to baking). If you’re making éclairs for a Sunday lunch, don’t hesitate to try out the tips you find here and there.
At Christophe Michalak’s, for example, pastry chefs put the choux in the oven for 30 minutes before baking. This technique, combined with a well-placed cracker, gives really great results. Household ovens send air into the oven during baking, which tends to deform the choux (or eclairs in this case). If you let them puff up with the oven turned off, there’ll be no deformation.
Other people use temperature changes, opening the oven door or not… etc. Test several methods and stick to the one that works!
What’s expected of you at the CAP patisserie
Forget all these shortcuts if you’re taking the CAP pâtisserie. It’ll be old-school choux (i.e. no crackers) and baking in a static-heat oven (usually 180°C). If you’re lucky at the exam, the baking will be managed by a dedicated teacher. This prevents one of your co-candidates from putting his sponge cake in the oven when you’ve been putting your choux pastry in for 15 minutes (true story…).
The main point on which you’ll be expected to perform at CAP is consistency. So you’ll need to practice a lot until all your pieces are identical. To achieve this, you’re allowed to use templates on the exam. There are two schools of thought: those who trace their template with a felt-tip pen (velleda) on parchment paper (remembering to turn it over before poaching), and those who trace a fine line of flour using a pastry cutter (dip, place).
I’ve tested both and it’s true that the pastry cutter is faster and more professional, so go for me! To improve your regularity as such, there’s no real trick, you just have to get the hang of it.
Making the breadcrumbs
In absolute terms, choux pastry isn’t terribly complicated to make. You melt the butter and water in a saucepan, bring to the boil, add the flour, moisten with the eggs, poach, bake… and voilàààà! The problem is that when things go wrong, it’s always at the end, and it’s hard to work out why.
When making choux pastry, always proceed with caution and moderation. In the first stage, for example, when boiling the butter and water (or the water/milk mixture for a fluffier choux pastry), stop as soon as the mixture starts to boil. Otherwise, when the flour is added, the material/moisture ratio will be upset and the dough will have a poor consistency.
Once the flour has been incorporated, return to the heat to dry out the preparation, which is then called “panade”.
Once the breadcrumbs have dried out
There are several ways to tell when a panade is ready:
it’s in one piece
when the pan is shaken, the panade goes “schplock-schplock”.
the bottom of the pan is covered with a thin film
Moisturizing the choux pastry
When the panade has dried out properly, rehydrate it with eggs. But BEWARE, you don’t have to use the full quantity of eggs! In fact, depending on the absorption capacity of the flour, the rate of dehydration and the size of your eggs, you’ll need to adjust the quantity. To do this, pour all the eggs into a tray, beat quickly with a fork and gradually add to the panade. Don’t add any more eggs until the previous quantity has been well absorbed, and stop as soon as the choux pastry has reached the right consistency.
The pate a choux once the eggs have been incorporated
As an aside, I’ve been testing the Kmix loaned by Kenwood under CAP conditions for a few months now (following on from my article on how to choose a food processor for the CAP). I totally approve of it for choux pastry. The motor is a pleasure to use, as it doesn’t jerk, and the sheet is efficient for integrating the eggs evenly (because choux pastry by hand can sometimes be very sporty!).
How do you know if your pate a choux is the right consistency?
The 1 million euro question! There are several techniques for this. Some people use a technique called “cock’s crest”. You dip the spatula into the dough, then turn it over: if the crest stays in the air, the dough isn’t hydrated enough (you need to add more egg). If the crest falls back very quickly, the dough is too hydrated. The right consistency is reached when the crest holds together well enough.
I find it a little complicated, but I use the finger technique (avoid it on the big day, use a spatula). Make a channel in the choux pastry, which should close (otherwise the pastry will be too dry), but not too quickly (the pastry will be too hydrated). The ideal time is between 20 and 30 sec.
Of course, this will depend on the preparation. But for chouquettes, I use a PF 10 tip (a small 10 mm diameter tip for beginners!). For éclairs, I use a 14″ fluted tip to avoid scratching the choux pastry with a fork (but you can also use a smooth tip).
How can I prevent the choux pastry from falling over?
Choux pastry is a complicated preparation on several levels, and baking is no exception! To avoid the choux pastry falling over during baking, it’s imperative not to open the oven before the minimum 30-minute baking time. Your choux pastry is cooked when the surface is drip-free and the grooves are not moist. As choux pastry tends to soften with the filling, I advise you to over-bake it rather than risk under-baking it.
How to make choux pastry too runny?
If your choux pastry is too runny, don’t panic! Set aside the excess liquid and make a new choux pastry with half the ingredients. Stop short of incorporating the eggs, and add the excess liquid choux paste a little at a time. Once all the dough has been incorporated, top up with an egg or two if necessary, until you reach a perfect consistency.
Some time ago, I published an article on the 7 tips to make up for almost any recipe. In that article, I listed my tips for correcting a failed recipe in terms of the tools used. Today, I decided to list my tips for fixing a failed ganache! Grainy, too liquid or refusing to rise, here are all my tips for catching a bad ganache!
The ganache
Ganache is by nature an impossible mixture. It is an emulsion between the fat of the chocolate and the water in the cream. It is therefore quite easy to fail. I refer you to Wikipedia for the origins and chemical aspects of ganache.
Broken ganache: why my ganache split?
To make a ganache, we cut the chocolate into small pieces and pour boiling cream over it, in 3 times. By nature, the ganache is an impossible mixture because it associates two non-miscible phases (which do not mix in theory). It is an emulsion which is made between the fat of the chocolate and the water present in the cream. It is therefore quite easy to fail. It can be grainy, too liquid or simply impossible to mix. A successful ganache is smooth, shiny and creamy.
If not, here’s how to fix it:
Broken ganache : how to make up for a ganache that split?
In the case of a classic dark chocolate ganache, this sometimes happens if your chocolate has been overheated. Indeed, if it exceeds 55 degrees, it will have difficulty mixing with the cream. This is often the case if you melt your chocolate in the microwave before adding the cream. If this happens to you, don’t panic! Add a tablespoon of warm water and blend the mixture in a blender. Your ganache will be shiny and creamy again!
Besides, Richard Sève, the famous pastry chef from Lyon, makes his ganache directly in a blender. You can find his recipe in my article on chocolate macaroons.
How to make up for a too liquid chocolate ganache?
A ganache is usually half chocolate and half cream, but it depends on the purpose. For example, the ganache for candy will be harder than the ganache for a layer cake. If the result seems too liquid for the preparation you want to make, melt some chocolate (about 1/3 of the initial weight) and add it to the ganache. Mix well and let the mixture cool in the fridge. Your ganache will be much more solid.
Why is my ganache grainy?
A classic ganache is grainy when the chocolate has not melted properly in contact with the cream. This happens when the chocolate has not been cut into small enough pieces or the cream has not been heated enough to melt the chocolate. In this case, the best way to make up for it is to run the ganache through a food processor. Do not reheat the ganache as this will change the structure of the ganache.
Why is my ganache too hard?
As I explained above, the consistency of a ganache depends on the chocolate/cream ratio. It is in fact the cocoa butter that, as it cools, sets and hardens the ganache. The more chocolate you have in the ganache, the harder it will be. To make it more unctuous, melt it in a bain-marie and add the cream until your ganache has the desired consistency.
The mounted ganache
The ganache is a classic dark or white chocolate ganache that has been cooled for a few hours and then whipped to incorporate air. The consistency is therefore much more airy and light than the classic ganache. However, it is also much easier to fail than its colleague. Indeed, this chipie has an annoying tendency to grainate.
Why is my ganache sliced?
A mounted ganache slices when the chocolate fat separates from the water phase. The result is a grainy mass of chocolate that is bathed in liquid. A ganache grains when it has been beaten too fast or too long. This happens more often with white chocolate ganache than with dark chocolate.
How do I fix my grainy ganache?
There are several ways to make up for a ganache that has become grainy. If you have time, you can melt the mixture until it is homogeneous. Then, once it has cooled in the fridge for a few hours, you can try again to blend the ganache. If you don’t have the time (as is often the case when you’re cooking!), I recommend beating your mixture very gently (speed 1 of your food processor) for at least 10 minutes. Gradually, your ganache will become homogeneous and you will be able to continue to whip it. A little tip: keep an eye on your ganache as it rises so you can slow down the food processor as soon as it starts to slice.
Why doesn’t my ganache rise and how do I fix it?
If your ganache does not rise, check that you have not used low-fat cream. Indeed, it is not fatty enough to make the ganache rise. If this is the case, you can add a large mascarpone cream to your ganache to add some fat. If it’s not a problem with the cream, then your ganache is not cold enough. Simply put it back in the fridge for 1 hour before you can whip it!
With all these tips, you should have all the keys in hand to make up for a failed ganache, but don’t hesitate to mention in the comments any other failures you encounter!
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