April 17, 2016
Pâte-à-Choux filled with Rhubarb and Ginger Cream signals spring. Blend rhubarb syrup into pastry cream to create a seductive springtime pucker. The add spicy ginger juice and a little salt. Together they brighten and balance the acidity. Yeah! The rhubarb, ginger and salt make a mouthwatering pastry cream to fill the crunchiest choux pastry.
Today, I am joined by a group of talented bloggers from the Sunday Supper Movement to Welcome Spring event with a collection of delicious spring recipes. I’m very proud to contribute to the event-- Pâte-à-Choux filled with Rhubarb and Ginger Cream. I expect you’ll find the flavours springtime-fresh and engaging, bite-after-bite.
Before launching into the details of this post, I'd like to acknowledge the expertise of Shirley Corriher and her book BakeWise. I have learned so much from this book and highly recommend it. The Pâte-à-Choux recipe is hers.
The Finer Cookie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for websites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links, which means The Finer Cookie will receive a small commission if you make a purchase using this link. This modest income helps support the website.
Makes 80 chouxs, approximately
Grams
Ounces
Volume
Rhubarb, sugar and water ready for stewing.
Straining the rhubarb for the syrup.
Grating fresh ginger to extract the ginger juice.
Squeezing the ginger juice with cheesecloth.
The finished ginger juice.
Melting butter and water for the choux pastry.
Adding bread flour to the melted butter and water.
Newly formed choux pastry.
The first 1/4 cup of egg to the choux pastry.
Finished choux pastry batter ready for the piping bag.
Choux batter in the piping bag. Note the thick consistency.
Piped Pâte-à-Choux batter.
Baked Pâte-à-Choux: The Finer Cookie.
COOLING THE CHOUXS
Baked Pâte-à-Choux: The Finer Cookie.
Egg yolks for the rhubarb ginger pastry cream.
Sifting the cornstarch and flour into the pastry cream.
Cooking the pastry cream and stirring it with a spatula.
Finished and thickened pastry cream.
Dissolving the sugar for the cooked sugar glaze.
The cooked sugar coming to temperature.
The sugar at the correct temperature and carmalized.
Dipping the pâte-à-choux into the caramelized sugar.
Cooling sugar on the choux.
Pâte-à-Choux cut in half. Note the thick dry exterior and airy interior.
Spooning the pastry cream into the opened pâte-à-choux.
Pâte-à-Choux filled with Rhubarb Ginger Cream: The Finer Cookie.
Pâte-à-Choux filled with Rhubarb and Ginger Cream, The Finer Cookie .
The sugar in this recipe is adjusted so that the final pastry cream will be flavourful with moderate sweetness. If you want, you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup in the rhubarb syrup to give the final pastry cream even more pucker.
I know using bread flour for Choux Pastry is unconventional; however, it produces a very crisp, dry shell. It's better because the bread flour has a higher protein count and absorbs more liquid than all purpose flour. The dough will be stiffer and more difficult to stir by hand. That’s why I pull out my trusty hand mixer to help me. Simply turn on the hand mixer to its lowest setting for about 1 minute, then stir again with your wooden spoon. The dough will melt together into a single mass. Magic. If bread flour is unavailable, use all purpose flour and do an extra good job drying out the dough so it’s able to absorb all the egg.
The goal during cooking is to create a very dry dough by releasing as much water/steam as possible. The dryer the dough, the more egg it will accept/absorb without losing its thick consistency. The more egg that's incorporated, the more puff and rise you'll get during baking.
Some people prefer using a food processor to incorporate the egg. I don't think a FP incorporates the egg as well as the stand mixer or a hand held mixer. I feel the mixer produces the lighter, puffier choux pastry.
The final consistency of the batter should be thick enough to hold their shape when spooned or piped into small blobs/balls. As you add the egg, assess the thickness of the batter. The batter must be visibly thick. If it was thick one moment then runny the next DON'T PANIC. Let the batter sit for 10-15 minutes, during which time the bread flour will absorb the liquid, and you'll find it a better consistency.
If you see little flour seeds in the batter, beat the batter on medium speed for another minute or two. It should smooth out at this point.
The goal is to have a flavourful cream that is thick enough to hold its shape when spooned or piped. Be sure to add all of the flavouring into the warm pastry cream. As the cream cools, the cornstarch especially becomes thicker. Stirring it after will break the bonds and cause the cream to loose
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Makes 80 chouxs, approximately
Rhubarb, sugar and water ready for stewing.
Straining the rhubarb for the syrup.
Grating fresh ginger to extract the ginger juice.
Squeezing the ginger juice with cheesecloth.
The finished ginger juice.
Melting butter and water for the choux pastry.
Adding bread flour to the melted butter and water.
Newly formed choux pastry.
The first 1/4 cup of egg to the choux pastry.
Finished choux pastry batter ready for the piping bag.
Choux batter in the piping bag. Note the thick consistency.
Piped Pâte-à-Choux batter.
Baked Pâte-à-Choux: The Finer Cookie.
COOLING THE CHOUXS
Baked Pâte-à-Choux: The Finer Cookie.
Egg yolks for the rhubarb ginger pastry cream.
Sifting the cornstarch and flour into the pastry cream.
Cooking the pastry cream and stirring it with a spatula.
Finished and thickened pastry cream.
Dissolving the sugar for the cooked sugar glaze.
The cooked sugar coming to temperature.
The sugar at the correct temperature and carmalized.
Dipping the pâte-à-choux into the caramelized sugar.
Cooling sugar on the choux.
Pâte-à-Choux cut in half. Note the thick dry exterior and airy interior.
Spooning the pastry cream into the opened pâte-à-choux.
Pâte-à-Choux filled with Rhubarb Ginger Cream: The Finer Cookie.
Pâte-à-Choux filled with Rhubarb and Ginger Cream, The Finer Cookie .
The sugar in this recipe is adjusted so that the final pastry cream will be flavourful with moderate sweetness. If you want, you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup in the rhubarb syrup to give the final pastry cream even more pucker.
I know using bread flour for Choux Pastry is unconventional; however, it produces a very crisp, dry shell. It's better because the bread flour has a higher protein count and absorbs more liquid than all purpose flour. The dough will be stiffer and more difficult to stir by hand. That’s why I pull out my trusty hand mixer to help me. Simply turn on the hand mixer to its lowest setting for about 1 minute, then stir again with your wooden spoon. The dough will melt together into a single mass. Magic. If bread flour is unavailable, use all purpose flour and do an extra good job drying out the dough so it’s able to absorb all the egg.
The goal during cooking is to create a very dry dough by releasing as much water/steam as possible. The dryer the dough, the more egg it will accept/absorb without losing its thick consistency. The more egg that's incorporated, the more puff and rise you'll get during baking.
Some people prefer using a food processor to incorporate the egg. I don't think a FP incorporates the egg as well as the stand mixer or a hand held mixer. I feel the mixer produces the lighter, puffier choux pastry.
The final consistency of the batter should be thick enough to hold their shape when spooned or piped into small blobs/balls. As you add the egg, assess the thickness of the batter. The batter must be visibly thick. If it was thick one moment then runny the next DON'T PANIC. Let the batter sit for 10-15 minutes, during which time the bread flour will absorb the liquid, and you'll find it a better consistency.
If you see little flour seeds in the batter, beat the batter on medium speed for another minute or two. It should smooth out at this point.
The goal is to have a flavourful cream that is thick enough to hold its shape when spooned or piped. Be sure to add all of the flavouring into the warm pastry cream. As the cream cools, the cornstarch especially becomes thicker. Stirring it after will break the bonds and cause the cream to loose
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