CookEat Recipe
Small Filled Beignet Pastries
Light baked choux-style pastries made with a cooked flour paste and whipped whites, filled with fruit preserve and dusted with icing sugar.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 150 ml water; 100 g plain flour; 15 g butter: 10 g for the paste and 5 g for the tray; 3 eggs: 1 left whole and 2 separated; 1 additional egg yolk for the paste; A pinch of salt; 200 g smooth prepared fruit preserve, such as apricot; 20 g icing sugar for finishing.
Step 2
Bring the water and salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour all at once and stir immediately, then add 10 g butter. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring and turning the stiff paste continuously so it dries without scorching.
Step 3
Spread the paste about 2 cm thick on a clean plate and cool until just lukewarm, no hotter than about 40°C. Beat in the one whole egg, pounding with a sturdy spoon or food-safe mortar if needed to soften the paste. Transfer to a bowl and work in the two separated yolks and the additional yolk one at a time, mixing until smooth after each.
Step 4
Whisk the two reserved whites to firm peaks. Fold them into the paste with upward strokes from the bottom until smooth and evenly incorporated. Cover in a shallow container and rest in the refrigerator at 4°C or colder for about 2 hours. Do not leave the raw-egg paste warm for several hours.
Step 5
Heat the oven to 200°C and grease a baking tray lightly with the reserved 5 g butter. Spoon out 10–12 well-spaced mounds. For an optional smooth glazed surface, beat one further egg yolk with about 1 teaspoon white from that additional egg and brush lightly over the mounds; these glazing ingredients are separate from the paste and may be omitted.
Step 6
Bake for about 15 minutes at 200°C, then reduce to 180°C and continue for about 15–20 minutes until well risen, golden and dry enough to hold their shape. Do not open the oven during the initial rise. Slit each pastry at one side or make a small semicircular opening underneath. Return to the switched-off oven briefly if the inside remains wet, then cool on a rack.
Step 7
Fill the cooled hollow pastries with the smooth fruit preserve through the openings and dust lightly with icing sugar. Keep covered in the refrigerator at 4°C or colder and serve the same day for the best texture. This recipe makes baked filled pastries, not fried beignets.
Step 8
For a custard filling instead of fruit preserve, whisk 2 egg yolks with 60 g caster sugar and 30 g wheat starch. Gradually add 250 ml whole milk and a little vanilla. Cook over gentle heat, stirring continuously, until smoothly thickened and at least 74°C. Transfer to a shallow dish, cover the surface and cool promptly, refrigerating at 4°C or colder within 2 hours. Use the cold custard to fill the cooled pastries instead of the preserve, keep refrigerated and eat within 2–3 days. The custard ingredients are separate from the pastry formula.
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