BAKING AND PASTRY TECHNIQUES

April 25, 2013

Aw, Pate a Choux (pronouned paht-ah-shoo). Eclairs and Cream Puffs are one of my many favorite pastry desserts and those were on the agenda in the kitchen for today along with Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere), Chantilly Creme (Creme Chantilly), Dipolmat Cream, and Chocolate Glaze (all elements used for the Eclairs and Cream Puffs). 

We made the Pate a Choux dough first and piped them on to the sheet pans for baking.  Once they were in the oven we moved on to fillings and toppings.  By the time they were baked and cooled we had everything ready to complete the desserts.

Pastry Cream is a stirred custard. Custards needs to be handled carefully as they contain eggs and cannot be heated to temperatures high enough to destroy bacterias without curdling the eggs.  Pastry cream is easy enough to make but requires constant attention with a few key details. When adding the yolks to the cornstarch/sugar mixture, you must stir it quickly with a whisk as sugar is hydroscopic (attracts moisture). By stirring quickly to blend it well, it will prevent little specs from forming in the mixture.  As the mixture thickens on the stove you must constantly stir with a whisk to remove lumps. After removing from the stove you must continue stirring as the mixture will continue to cook and will scorch if not stirred.  After placing in a bowl and putting in a ice bath, you must continue stirring to keep lumps from forming until cooled. After it is cooled, cellophane needs to be placed touching the surface of the cream and remove air pockets before placing the refrigerator to prevent a skin from forming on the top.

Chantilly Cream is basically heavy cream whipped to peaks and flavored with sugar and vanilla. You can make it will whipping cream which is a dairy product but must be refrigerated or with whipped toppings which is non-dairy (use 2 parts whipped topped and 1 part water).   

To make Diplomat's Cream you simply mix some of the Chantilly Cream into the Pastry Cream.

The chocolate glaze was made by incorporating evaporated milk, corn syrup, simple syrup  and chocolate. The real trick with the glaze is to put the chocolate pieces into the mixture so the chocolate is covered by liquid and let sit for a couple minutes before stirring.



After making all the components of the eclairs, cream puffs and french rings, we were ready to complete assembly.  Filling the cream puffs and eclairs required a special pastry bag tip called a bismark tip which allowed us to insert the tip into the pastry and fill.


The pastries did not transport well as the chocolate was still sticky as we left the class.  It was a made rush to complete all this in the class time. 

Cream Puffs and French Rings

We also made swans with the pate a choux. 

Pate a Choux Swans

I was chosen to help build the display window.  We set up the window the same as previous displays because we were so short on time.  I am sure the display set up will change soon as the Chef likes variety in the window.  I wasn't able to get a photo before the room was closed and lock as we were running so late. 

Swans, French Rings and Eclairs