Chouquettes Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 22 minutes per tray
Makes: 60 chouquettes
Ingredients Needed
For Sugar Glaze
- 60ml/2flozs water
- 60g/2 ozs caster or superfine sugar
For Puffs
- 100g/3.5ozs milk
- 80g/2.8ozs water
- 80g/2.8ozs butter, cubed
- 5g/0.18oz sugar
- 3g/0.11oz salt
- 100g/3.5ozs plain all purpose flour
- 3 eggs, whisked together
- 75g/2.7ozs-100g/3.5ozs pearl sugar
For Mascarpone Cream Filling
- 30g/1oz cream cheese or mascarpone, soft
- 30g/1oz caster or superfine sugar
- 125ml/4flozs cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 GLAZE - Make sugar glaze first. Place water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes. Cool.
Step 2 CHOUX - Preheat oven to 200C/400F conventional or 180C/350F fan forced. Line 2 baking trays with parchment. Place the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to almost a boil. Remove from the heat and quickly mix in the flour with a flat bottomed wooden spoon or spatula. Place saucepan back on low heat and keep stirring until the dough pulls away from the edges and becomes one cohesive piece - it should take around 2 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes.
Step 3 BEAT - Fit a mixer with a beater attachment and add the dough. Start to beat and allow the heat to escape. Once the steam stops rising, gradually pour in the beaten egg and keep beating until smooth and glossy. You can refrigerate this dough overnight or use straight away. By the time it is glossy and smooth it should cool enough to place in a piping bag.
Step 4 PIPE - Fit a piping bag with a 1A or plain tip. Pipe rounds around 1 inch spacing them 1 inch apart as they will expand a little. Wet the tips of your fingers and gently press down the tops so that they are smooth. Brush generously with sugar glaze and sprinkle generously with pearl sugar. Shake the pan a little to make sure any stray bits of pearl sugar attach to a chouquette.
Step 5 BAKE - Bake one tray at a time. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the tray around for even baking and bake for 5 additional minutes. Then remove the tray from the oven and prick a small hole in each choux to allow the steam to be released and return to the oven for 2 minutes. They should be golden brown and not too pale. Cool completely. These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Step 6 CREAM (optional) - To make the cream, beat the mascarpone and sugar together. Then switch to a whisk attachment and add the cream and vanilla, whisking until you get a thick Chantilly cream (you should be able to run a knife through it and the cut will hold). Using a small plain tip, pipe into the bottoms of the puffs until they swell. Store in the fridge - these are best eaten within the hour.
Personal Note
I made some of these chouquettes with cream and some without. I gave some cream chouquettes to my neighbours that I knew were home but the rest were unfilled. I personally prefer them unfilled because I like the caramelised crunch in each bite.
I gave some to Laura as I was having dinner with her that evening. Laura has been together with LimaLimaDelta or LLD for a few years now but this year is the first time they've moved in together. Prior to that he was deployed or lived in Canberra as he is in the Australian Navy and they get moved around a bit. They have moved into a new place in Sydney with his dog Archie and this is the longest the two have physically been together.
Because Laura is so independent she is not used to having his physical presence around so much it can be a challenge that Adrian is trying to not take so personally. Laura is more a Second Wife. When we were in Dubai they explained to us that when some men have multiple wives, the second wife sometimes prefers this position because while they get the same financial support the men are not around as much so they are left alone.
"Don't take it personally she prefers being second wife," I explained to him and Laura nodded. For her, it's great to have a partner and someone to travel with but their constant presence is not essential.
As for me personally, I like having someone around so I don't think I'd like being a second wife, it's first wife for me!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever eaten chouquettes?
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