pate choux

any pastry chefs have some good history info on cream puffs?

[Greg]

Welcome to cheftalk, ostrix! I'm going to move this topic to the "pastry chef's corner" forum found further down the page. You should get a better response to your question there.

[nutcakes]

I have the same confusion over the 3 baking/pastry boards. They seem interchangable to me. Never know where to post. All descriptions always seem applicable to anything I have to ask/comment on.

[thebighat]

this is ewverything we learned in school about pate a choux

web page

[Eeyore]

The dough is really very easy to make. I consider it one of the easiest. The dough should be fairly stiff--not runny at all.

They are usually baked at a higher temp. then lowered until done. You may have to sacrifice one or two to make sure they are done before removing, at least until you get used to it. They will collapse if removed too soon. Depending on your oven color may not be the best indicator. It should be dry all the way through.

A friend of mine uses beignet dough to make his profiterol sampler at his restaraunt. Its pretty good.

Question: I would like to serve eclairs at Sunday brunch. I dont have time to fill and dip them on Sunday. What would you guys do? Refrigerate? I'm afraid they will get soggy. Should I freeze them?

Any suggestion would be helpful.
eeyore

[Eeyore]

Okay...I am such a doof! I just re-read your question.

You weren't asking if WE had a history making cream puffs....

You wanted to know THEIR history...

anyway.. maybe someone can help me with mine.

eeyore

[m brown]

Originally posted by nutcakes:
I have the same confusion over the 3 baking/pastry boards. They seem interchangable to me. Never know where to post. All descriptions always seem applicable to anything I have to ask/comment on.

Great Question!
Baking deals with breads, and oven baked items, mainly served soon after baking.
Pastry deals with the finishing work and desserts that need garnishing work or specialty items.
General baking and pastry would be all that fall between or need clarification.
I will start another discussion on this subject to get all of your feed back on the subject.
Thanks Nutcakes!!

[m brown]

Eeyore
For the eclairs at sunday brunch, you could do them openface style by:
slicing the eclair in half the long way,( for large quantities place bottoms on one sheet pan and dipped tops on the other, fill and top assembly line fashion. )
"Paint" the inside with chocolate to create a moisture barrier
Fill with a stiff cream or mousse with a star tip and top with your dipped top!
These are really cute and look like you put lots of time in, which you kind of did. They will hold up in the cooler 24 hours at least.

Or if you have a low humidity cooler you can go ahead and fill/ice the day before without too much sogg.

[m brown]

Ostrix
without too much information I will give you some leads on Pate a choux.
Because it is a roux based paste and is leavened with egg and not chemicals, you can bet it is an old baked item. Check out some food histories and find out when the first roux was used, you should find a good road map from there.

[thebighat]

you can fill and freeze eclairs as long as the filling is made with arrowroot or flour and not cornstarch, which will separate when it thaws.