Chouquettes

Light, hollow choux puffs with a crispy golden shell, a soft airy centre, and a generous coating of crunchy pearl sugar that shatters when you bite in. Chouquettes are one of the simplest things in French pâtisserie and warm from the oven, they are genuinely impossible to stop eating.

Prep20

Cook30

Total50

Servings chouquettes

DifficultyMedium

Ingredients

62 ml whole milk
62 ml water
50 gr unsalted butter cut into small cubes
75 gr plain flour sifted
125 gr eggs beaten
1.5 gr salt
40 gr pearl sugar

Equipment

Instructions

Weigh the eggs and heat the liquid

Beat the eggs and weigh exactly 125g into a jug. Set aside. Put the milk, water and butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil, making sure the butter melts fully before the liquid boils.

Add the flour

Take the pan off the heat. Tip in the sifted flour and salt all at once. Stir hard with a heat-resistant spatula until it comes together into a smooth ball with no lumps. This is the panade.

Dry out the panade

Return the pan to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes, until the paste dries out, pulls cleanly from the sides, and leaves a thin film on the base of the pan. Don't rush this step.

Cool the panade

Transfer to a bowl or stand mixer. Beat with a spatula or the paddle attachment for 2 to 3 minutes to cool it. It must stop steaming before the eggs go in.

Add the eggs gradually

Add the beaten egg a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Stop when the dough is smooth, shiny, and falls from the spatula in a pointed V. You may not need all 125g.

Pipe the chouquettes

Heat the oven to 180°C fan / 200°C conventional. Line a tray with baking paper. Fit the piping bag with a plain 8 to 10 mm nozzle. Pipe rounds about 3 to 4 cm across in staggered rows, spaced well apart. Dip a spoon or finger in milk and press down any peaks so they don't burn.

Add the pearl sugar

Pour pearl sugar along one row at a time, tipping the tray to roll and coat each puff generously. Press lightly so it sticks. Tip off the excess.

Bake

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes without opening the door at any point. They're ready when deep golden all over and the grooves are coloured. Cool 5 minutes on the tray, then move to a wire rack.

Notes

Weigh your eggs instead of counting them: You need exactly 125g of beaten egg. Depending on the size of your eggs this could be 2 or 3. Weigh them beaten in a jug and stop at 125g.
Dry the panade properly: Cook and stir for 4 to 5 minutes until it films the base of the pan. This is what lets the choux puff.
Cool before adding eggs: The panade must stop steaming before you add the eggs. Beat it in the bowl for 2 to 3 minutes first to cool it down.
Do not open the oven door: Cold air collapses the choux and they won't recover.
Pearl sugar only: Regular sugar melts. You need pearl sugar, large, hard, opaque white crystals.
Eat warm: Chouquettes are at their absolute best within an hour of baking. Refresh leftovers in the oven at 180°C for 5 minutes.
Make ahead: The raw pâte à choux keeps in the fridge overnight in a sealed piping bag. Pipe and bake the next day.
Freezing. Baked chouquettes freeze well. Reheat from frozen at 180°C for 8 minutes.

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