Tiny Choux Puffs Recipes

TINY CHOUX PUFFS

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil with butter and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over high heat, then reduce heat to moderate. Add flour all at once and cook, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan, about 2 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat and add eggs 1 at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition until mixture is smooth.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Transfer dough to pastry bag and pipe mounds, 1/3 inch in diameter, about 1/2 inch apart on 2 greased large baking sheets. Gently flatten tips of mounds with a fingertip dipped in water. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in middle of oven until golden brown and cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes.

CRAQUELIN-TOPPED CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• To make the craquelin: Pulse the butter, sugar and salt in a food processor until just blended. Add the flour, and pulse until you have moist curds; pulse in the vanilla. Scrape the dough out onto the counter, and pull it together into a ball. Divide in half, shape each half into a disk and roll out each piece between parchment paper until it's about 1/8 to 1/16 inch thick. Freeze for at least 1 hour, and then cut into 1 3/4-to-2-inch-diameter rounds. Freeze until needed (always use frozen).
• Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a small (2-teaspoon capacity) cookie scoop, spoon or a piping bag at hand.
• To make the puffs: Bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt just to a boil in a medium pan. Reduce the heat to low, add the flour all at once and start stirring like mad with a flexible spatula. Stir and mash the dough until it comes together and leaves a film on the bottom of the pan. Keep cooking and stirring nonstop for another 3 minutes to dry but not color it. Scrape the dough into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or work with a hand mixer). Beat the dough for 2 minutes to cool it down a bit. Combine the eggs and white, stir with a fork to break them up and then add to the dough in three additions, beating on medium speed. Beat until the dough is satiny and runs off the beater smoothly.
• Scoop, spoon or pipe puffs that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, leaving about 2 inches between each puff. (At this point, you can freeze them and then, when they are solid, pack them in an airtight container. When you're ready to bake, arrange the frozen puffs on a lined baking sheet and keep them on the counter while you preheat the oven.) Place a frozen round of craquelin on each puff.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the baking sheets if needed, or until the tops are golden brown and crackled. The puffs will feel firm when gently squeezed and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer them to racks, and cool to room temperature.

FINGER-LICKING GOOD MINI CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a small saucepan, bring water and butter to a rolling boil over medium heat. Add flour and salt all at once; beat until blended. Cook, stirring vigorously, until a film forms at the bottom of the pan, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes., Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. Drop dough by 1-in. balls 1-1/2 in. apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until puffed, very firm and golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Cool on wire racks., Meanwhile, whisk together pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes or until thickened; let stand 5 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Cut puffs in half. Fill cream puffs with vanilla filling; replace tops. Dust with confectioners' sugar; serve immediately.

PETITS CHOUX (TINY CREAM PUFFS)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400° F. Break eggs into a small bowl set aside.In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter or margarine to a rolling boil reduce heat to low. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wire whisk or wooden spoon for 1 minute or until the mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs all at once and continue beating until mixture is smooth. Drop dough, 1 teaspoonful at a time, about 1 1/2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets cool on wire racks away from drafts.*To serve, cut tops from Petits Choux fill with desired filling.* Petits Choux can be frozen. To re-crisp, place in preheated 350° F. oven for 5 to 10 minutes cool.

TOMATO AND CELERY-INFUSED BEEF CONSOMMé WITH TINY CHOUX PUFFS

Steps:

• Whisk egg whites in a large bowl until foamy and add eggshells. Separately pulse tomatoes and celery in a food processor until coarsely chopped, then add to egg whites. Whisk in beef, salt, and peppercorns.
• Heat veal stock, if jellied, in a 4-quart heavy saucepan just until it becomes liquid, then whisk in beef mixture. Heat over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping bottom constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent egg white from sticking, until stock comes to a simmer (this will take about 20 minutes). Reduce heat and gently simmer broth, without stirring, until all impurities rise to surface and form a crust, and broth underneath is clear, about 30 minutes.
• Ladle broth with crust into a large sieve lined with a double thickness of dampened paper towels set over a large bowl and let all liquid drain through. (If liquid doesn't drain completely, tap edge of sieve repeatedly with a metal spoon to help drain.) Broth should be completely clear; if it's not, repeat procedure with clean dampened paper towels. Discard solids.
• Before serving, bring consommé to a boil and season with salt. Ladle into bowls and top with profiteroles and garnishes.

PATE A CHOUX PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat 1 cup water, the butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until butter has melted and mixture is boiling. Remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour. Return to medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides and a film forms on bottom of pan, about 4 1/2 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 2 minutes. Raise speed to medium. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until incorporated after each addition. Batter should be shiny. Test batter by touching it with your finger and lifting to form a string. If a string does not form, mix in another egg a little at a time. If a string still doesn't form, add water 1 teaspoon at a time until it does.
• Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1-inch rounds onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 1 inch apart. Whisk remaining egg and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl; brush over tops of rounds
• Bake until rounds are puffed and pale golden, about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes more. Turn off oven, and prop open oven door with a wooden spoon to release steam; let puffs dry 15 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Puffs can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 day or frozen up to 1 month.