Just to show that making things from school at home has some very unavoidable differences. I think that up to the last step of the recipe everything was going fine, and then the caramel came in. And it stuck to the plate….So you can learn from my mistake already: It is imperatively important to oil your plate/tray well before setting the glazed chouquettes!
Chocolate Cream Chouquettes with Caramel and Fleur de Sel
Pâte à Choux
250ml water
100g unsalted butter
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
150g flour
4 eggs
Chocolate Pastry Cream
250ml milk
125g sugar
3 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt
2 egg yolks
vanilla
60g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
Caramel Glaze with Fleur de Sel
125ml water
125g sugar
pinch of fleur de sel
Method:
To make the chouquettes: Prepare a pan lined with a baking sheet, and a pastry bag with a simple 8-12 opening. Set aside.
In a medium pot place the water, butter, salt and sugar. Bring the mixture to the boil and immediately add the flour, mixing vigorously on low heat with a wooden spoon. Be careful that the dough doesn’t burn! Stop only when the dough doesn’t stick to your spoon. Transfer to a bowl and add the eggs one by one until you create a soft and elastic paste. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Fill the pastry bag with the dough, without making a big mess and make little balls about the size of a small strawberry. These will grow in the oven! Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until nice and golden. Place in a rack to cool completely.
To make the chocolate pastry cream: In a bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Add the flour and salt and mix well until pale. In a medium pot heat the milk with the chocolate until just simmering. Pass half the milk to the egg bowl and whisk to combine. Return all the mixture to the pot and keep whisking to thicken. Let it boil a minute or so and transfer to a stainless steel tray. If you want to cool it quickly, stick some film over the cream and refrigerate. This prevents the cream from making a crust on the outside too.
Assembly: Fill a new pastry bag with the chocolate cream (with the smallest tip possible, like a 6) and set aside. With a “bic” pen or pencil, pierce each chouquettes in the bottom. Turn these upside down to be sure they’ve got a hole. Fill each chouquettes with the cream. Don’t overdose them, they’ll pop!
To glaze: In a medium pot place the water, then the sugar and fleur de sel and boil until you get a lightly brown colour. While you wait, oil a tray with vegetable oil and set aside. When the caramel is done, place the pot slightly askew with a kitchen cloth underneath. Dip each chouquette in the caramel. Don’t let them go in there, and please don’t burn your fingers! Place the glazed side upside down on the tray. Just like in the “Gateau St.Honoré”!
Wait until the caramel has set and remove your chouquettes to plate. They should look amazing, unfortunately not my case…
