puff pieces - News.com.au

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wine matches recommended by Des Houghton
Photography: DAVID KELLY Styling: ANNE-mAREE LYONS
puff
pieces
Fill out your day with lashings of light pastry.
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30/03/2012 02:51:16
wine matches recommended by Des Houghton
Photography: DAVID KELLY Styling: ANNE-mAREE LYONS
The origin of choux pastry
is difficult to trace.
Certainly the word “choux”
and the name of its most
recognised incarnation,
profiterole, originated in
France, but there are
andrew
mirosch
historical references to
similar pastries in Italian and German
culinary history. It is feasible to assume that
this basic dough of water, flour, eggs and
butter may have been “discovered” during
the development of any number of dishes
of other cuisines.
Choux pastry is light and crisp. The
high-water content of the dough generates
steam when cooked, forcing the pastry
to expand and create a gossamer shell
around a hollow centre. The cavity is filled
with custard, sweetened creams or mousse
and the pastry is dipped in caramel, warm
fudge, icing sugar, chocolate – in the
manner of traditional éclairs – or, when
piled high to create the extravagant
croquembouche, toffee.
For savoury applications choux pastry
is generally baked in the round profiterole
shape. Fillings as varied as pâté, herbed
soft cheeses, forcemeats, game ragout or
smoked salmon mousse are either piped
into the centre or the pastry is cut open and
the filling spooned in.
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Croquembouche
(French wedding cake)
Serves 10-12
Difficulty rating lllll
Preparation: 80 minutes
Cooking: 1½ hours
Vanilla cream filling:
12 egg yolks
250g castor sugar
100g flour
1 litre milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Toffee for dipping and spinning:
1200g castor sugar
1 punnet edible flowers for garnish
Choux pastry:
Double quantity of éclair recipe (third column)
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Chocolate mousse-filled éclairs with
chocolate sauce & macadamia praline
Makes 24 Difficulty rating lllll
Preparation: 35 mins
Cooking: 75 mins + overnight refrigeration
Chocolate mousse:
400g couverture dark chocolate
(Callebaut is good)
50g unsalted butter melted
8 eggs separated
200g castor sugar
Basic choux pastry:
1½ cups water
120g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
250g plain flour
6 eggs
Chocolate topping:
250g couverture chocolate
100ml pure cream
1 For filling, cream yolks and sugar. Add
flour, then milk and vanilla extract, and mix
well. Transfer to a saucepan and cook over
low heat till thick. Stand to cool.
2 For pastry, follow step 2 of éclair recipe
(see right).
3 Pipe 2cm round balls onto greased trays
(makes more than 60). Bake as per step
4 of éclair recipe. Cool and use piping bag
to inject profiteroles with filling.
4 For dipping toffee, bring 500ml water to
the boil and add 1kg sugar. Cook until
golden. Cool slightly.
5 Dip the top of the profiterole in warm toffee
and stack to form a base on a round tray or
plate. Repeat until all profiteroles are used
and the cake resembles a tower.
6 For spun sugar, bring 200ml water to the
boil and add remaining 200g castor sugar.
Cook until light golden. Cool slightly. Dip
a kitchen spoon into the mix and carefully
allow it to run off in a thin “stream” while
quickly waving it over the handle of a
wooden spoon. You will have thin strands of
spun sugar hanging over the wooden handle.
7 Collect strands from the wooden spoon
and gently wrap around the cake. Garnish
with edible flowers.
1 For mousse, melt chocolate in a double
boiler, remove from heat. Add butter and egg
yolks and stir till incorporated. Keep warm.
In a saucepan, dissolve sugar in 400ml
simmering water and reduce to a clear syrup
– about 200ml. Whip egg whites to soft peaks,
then slowly add hot sugar. Mix until cooled.
Fold egg-white mix into melted chocolate
and refrigerate – preferably overnight.
2 For pastry, bring water, butter and salt to
the boil. Add flour and cook, stirring, until
dough comes away from the edge of the
saucepan, about 5 minutes. Transfer to
a bowl and beat at moderate speed while
adding eggs one at a time. Allow to stand
until cooled.
3 Pipe 4cm lengths of pastry onto a lined
baking sheet.
4 Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes. Pierce
each pastry with a knife to allow steam to
escape, reduce heat to 140°C and bake for
another 15 minutes.
5 For chocolate topping, melt chocolate in
a double boiler and add cream. Stir.
6 Pipe mousse into pastries, drizzle with
chocolate, sprinkle with macadamia praline.
See Second Helpings (right).
[Wine match] Petaluma Croser Vintage
($31.50)
[Wine match] Wolf Blass Pink Moscato
NV ($14)
second
helpings
Macadamia
praline
Place 350ml water
and 150g castor
sugar in a saucepan
and bring to the
boil. Cook until
golden and add
100g roasted
macadamia nuts.
Pour onto a tray
and cool. Transfer
to a food processor
and pulse until well
ground. Store in
a sealed container
in the fridge.
30/03/2012 02:51:30