Puff Pastry - Choux pastry or Pâte à choux (pronounced paht ah shoo), is a versatile cream puff pastry shell made from a dough. In French, choux means cabbage because it derives its shape when the dough is piped and baked into cream puffs. The goal in making the perfect cream pastry puff is to have the finest crispy crust, the lightest interior, and an even and golden browned shape.

A puff pastry recipe starts by boiling water and butter together on the stovetop, the only pastry prepared that way before baking. When the butter is melted and the mixture just begins to boil, the flour and salt added all at once and stirred continuously until it comes away from the sides and forms a ball. Sometimes a small amount of sugar is added flavor which also helps in browning. It is them spooned or piped into various shapes and baked. The dough can also be deep-fried and rolled in sugar to make sweet fritters (beignets).

Puff pastry easily becomes an elegant casing for desserts, hors d'oeuvres and appetizers, often filled with sweet or savory fillings. The round shape is the one I see most often called cream puffs, but there are also Eclairs, Profiteroles and others. Afterwards, the baked puffs are filled with pastry cream or whipped cream piped through a pastry bag, with a small plain tip. You can also fill the cream puffs with mousse. (Fill when the mousse is just beginning the set, not completely set and dense. And eat them right away!) You can add cubes of Gruyère cheese to it to make Gougère, a crisp popover-type cheese pastry, served as a delicious warm appetizer. 

HOW TO MAKE DOUGH: It is the single most critical factor in its successful preparation. Here, a stable emulsion of fat and water is formed with the help of the yolk's emulsifiers. Precooking on the stove also forms a gelatinized mixture (flour aborbs water and begins to set). Then during baking, the escaping steam from the water in eggs and other ingredients, leavening from beaten eggs, water from the recipe and heat from the oven, makes the pastry puff into shapes. The egg's proteins and that from flour set and they become crispy and golden brown.

To make a cream puff, cook the flour, salt, butter and water paste while beating. (The salt in the recipe keeps them from cracking.) Continuously flatten and turn the ball of dough against the sides of the pan, drying the paste as much as possible. The whole process will take about 5 minutes of continuous beating. Immediately remove from heat or the fat will separate out. Note that the bottom of the pan will be lightly filmed with the paste which you shouldn't scrap while cooking..

The eggs are then added and beaten into the cooked and cooled mixture or "panade", one by one and beaten until smooth. I like to beat my eggs in with a hand-held electric mixer or a stand one fitted with a paddle attachment, but of course they can be beaten by hand with a wooden spoon. Beating causes the mixture to thin and emulsify. It's very important that each egg be fully incorporated before you add the next so the paste won't separate. It can be a slow process - for 4 - 6 eggs, the process can take up 12 - 15 minutes or so even with an electric mixer. After all the eggs are incorporated, the dough should be stiff enough to hold a peak when a spoon is lifted out of it.  

The Pâte à choux dough is then quickly spooned by the rounded teaspoonfuls or piped into puffs (about 1-1/2 inches in diameter and dropped onto a parchment paper or silpat mat lined sheet. Leave 2" between the puffs to permit spreading. Do not grease a metal pan, the grease will cause the dough to flatten.

The Pâte à choux dough is baked immediately in a well preheated oven to ensure the greatest expansion and lightness. When baked, the starches in the flour and proteins in the egg coagulate and eventually brown on the outside. During baking, the crust traps steam inside, generated from the moisture in its ingredients and hot air from the oven, plus leavening from the beaten eggs. It is this principle, that causes them to become inflated, hollow and stay puffy. A properly baked choux retains its puffy shape, with a hollow interior with an outside that is crisp and fairly dry, with an all over golden color. When broken apart, it should have a slightly moist crumb on the inside. However, if they are removed from the oven too soon, the structure of the shell has not solidified, and it will collapse. However, when you think they are done take one out of the oven and check it by breaking open and checking the interior walls. If wet and eggy, return to the oven as necessary. Remove when done and cool on a wire rack. 

BAKING: Bake choux pastry in a preheated hot oven. A wooden skewer inserted into the center should come out almost dry.  

A convection oven can be used. Remember to lower the oven's temperature, by 50 degrees lower than the temperatures stated in the recipe. Rotate large puffs if necessary.

After removing the pastries from the oven, puncture them on the side or bottom with the tip of a sharp knife to allow any residual steam to escape. This will prevent sogginess. Arrange the pastries on a rack to cool or to dry further, place in oven for 5 to 10 minutes, watching carefully. 

HOW TO FILL: Pastry cream is a classic filling. Dip the tops of the éclairs in chocolate ganache glaze and let set on a wire cake rack placed over a piece of waxed or parchment paper.

Assemble the choux as close as possible to serving time, no longer than an hour. Once filled, the shells will absorb some of the moisture and aroma of the filling, becoming soft and tender if they're allowed to sit before serving. If cream puffs must be held, keep refrigerated.

Cream puffs: Using a star tube pipe the whipped cream or pastry cream through the slit of a hole into the hollow center into each puff. Then dip the tops. For example, when filling with pastry cream, you should fill the cream puffs when the cream is just beginning the set, but not completely so it is still malleable.

Éclairs: Use a serrate knife to split them horizontally. Remove some of the soft dough inside. Use a pastry bag fitted with a # 6 (1/2-inch) round tube or use a teaspoon to fill each one with a teaspoon using a scant 1/4 cup of filling. Then, dip the tops.

Cream Ring: Use a slicing knife with a long serrated blade to cut the top off a cream puff ring. Fill the bottom with pastry cream or any filling such as sweetened whipped cream. Finally, replace the lid and dust the top with powdered confectioners' sugar. Serve right away.