CookEat Recipe
Chocolate-Covered Filled Choux Puffs
Small baked choux-style puffs filled with custard and piled on a platter, with hot chocolate sauce poured over each layer.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 250 ml water: 150 ml for the pastry and 100 ml for the chocolate sauce; 100 g plain flour; 15 g butter: 10 g for the pastry and 5 g for the tray; 3 eggs for the pastry: 1 whole and 2 separated; 3 additional egg yolks: 1 for the pastry and 2 for the custard; A pinch of salt; 250 ml whole milk for the custard; 110 g caster sugar: 60 g for the custard and 50 g for the chocolate sauce; 30 g wheat starch for the custard; A little vanilla for the custard; 120 g plain dark chocolate, chopped.
Step 2
Bring 150 ml water and the salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour all at once, stir immediately and add 10 g butter. Work the stiff paste over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring and turning without scorching. Spread about 2 cm thick on a clean plate and cool until lukewarm, no hotter than about 40°C.
Step 3
Beat the one whole pastry egg into the paste, using a sturdy spoon or food-safe mortar to soften it. Work in the two separated yolks and the one additional pastry yolk one at a time. Whisk the two reserved whites to firm peaks and fold in from the bottom. Cover in a shallow container and rest in the refrigerator at 4°C or colder for about 2 hours.
Step 4
Meanwhile, make the custard: whisk its two additional yolks with 60 g caster sugar and the wheat starch. Gradually add the milk and vanilla, then cook gently while stirring until smoothly thickened and at least 74°C. Spread in a shallow dish, cover the surface, cool promptly and refrigerate at 4°C or colder within 2 hours.
Step 5
Heat the oven to 200°C and grease a tray with the remaining 5 g butter. Spoon or pipe 20–23 small well-spaced mounds, smaller than ordinary filled choux puffs. Bake for about 12 minutes at 200°C, then about 12–18 minutes at 180°C until golden, well risen and dry enough to hold their shape. Slit each at one side or underneath and dry briefly in the switched-off oven if necessary, then cool completely. An optional glaze may be brushed on before baking using one further yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon white from that further egg; these are additional ingredients, not taken from the pastry eggs.
Step 6
Fill the cooled puffs through their openings with the cold custard. Keep chilled until assembling, preferably shortly before serving. For the sauce, whisk the chocolate with the remaining 100 ml water and 50 g caster sugar over gentle heat until dissolved and smooth, then bring briefly to a simmer.
Step 7
Arrange a layer of filled puffs on a serving platter and spoon some of the hot chocolate sauce over it. Add another layer and more sauce, building a modest mound and coating each layer. Serve the same day, preferably immediately after coating; the sauce thickens on standing. Keep any waiting filled pastries refrigerated and return leftovers to 4°C or colder within 2 hours.
Step 8
For whipped-cream filling, omit the entire custard formula: its milk, 60 g sugar, wheat starch, vanilla and two yolks. Whip 200 ml cold whipping cream to soft firm peaks and use it to fill the cooled puffs. Keep chilled and pour over the hot chocolate sauce only just before serving, because the heat softens the cream. For fruit-preserve filling, omit the same custard ingredients and fill with about 200 g smooth prepared fruit preserve instead. The pastry and chocolate sauce quantities and methods remain unchanged for either alternative.
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