Choux pastry, or French pâte à choux, is the light, egg-based pastry dough used to make everyone’s favorite French profiteroles, éclairs, and gougerges. You can imagine my surprise and subsequent delight when on one of my last nights in cooking class at Mami Camilla cooking school, we made French pâte à choux and formed the dough into elegant, cream-filled swans. The great thing is, the whipped cream filling can be flavored any way you like—perhaps with a bit of almond extract, bourbon vanilla, or maybe even melted white or milk chocolate?
How fun to be cooking French pastry in Italy! I love to create which is part of the reason I love to cook as well as write, and this kind of dessert really strikes my fancy because it is all about combining both classic cooking methods and the art of delicate construction. Desserts like these are rare these days and rely on pastry chefs with patience, an artful eye, and a goal to please. Making these desserts was a pure delight—it took time and concentration, yes, but when dinner guests sit down to this caliber of elegance for dessert at your dinner table, they will be blown away at your skills and eye for classic French delicacies.
(To view this recipe, click on the blue blog post title above*)
Pâte à Choux Swans
Ingredients:
- * Recipe courtesy of Mami Camilla Cooking School*
- For the pate a choux dough: In a large sauce pan add 125g of unsalted butter, 250 grams of water and a pinch of salt. Melt the butter in the water and remove from heat. Add in 250g of all-purpose flour off of heat and stir in with a wooden spoon until combined. Place back on low heat and stir while cooking for another minute. Cool completely. Add into bowl of stand mixer and with paddle attachment, add 5 eggs total, one at a time, until the mixture is yellow and mixed completely.
- Put the dough in a piping bag; you will need 2 bags; one with a star tip and one with a very thin round tip. On parchment lined baking sheets, pipe S shapes with small tip, and madeleine cookie shapes with large star tip. (see photos) Bake at 340 degrees until lightly browned and firm on the outside. Allow to cool completely.
- To form the swans, you will need whipped cream (can make almond flavored, lemon flavored, vanilla flavored, whatever you wish!)
- Cut the large madeleine shaped baked goods in half lengthwise. Then cut the smaller top side of that in half to form 2 wings. Leave the bottom section in tact and fill with whipped cream.
- Place the cooled S shapes into cream to form the swan head; then place the 2 wings spread out a bit on top of the cream as the wings. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Can also add a tiny strawberry, cherry or raspberry on top of the cream for added color.
Directions:
Tagged: culinary school, dessert, dough, externship, French, Italy, Mami Camilla cooking school, pate a choux, pate a choux swans, Sorrento, swans, whipped cream
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