Your choux pastry failed? Look here for answers! | Gallery posted by Challe Cafe | Lemon8 (2024)

FAQs

Why did my choux pastry fail? ›

If the puffs collapse it means there was too much moisture in them. So either you did not dry the dough enough, or they were not cooked enough.

Potential reasons for each fault include insufficient cooling, eggs added too quickly, not beating the mixture enough, incorrect baking temperature or time, insufficient baking, and allowing the liquid to cool too much before adding flour.

To understand why choux is twice-cooked, it's important to know that choux needs lots of moisture: it's the steam generated by its high water content that causes it to swell and puff so much (there's no baking soda, baking powder, yeast, beaten egg whites, or any other leavening agent to help give it extra lift).

Make sure the pastry is cooked properly as if it is taken out of the oven too early the steam inside the buns causes them to collapse and become soft and soggy. Once the choux is made it can be piped or spooned into shapes and then frozen in its raw state.

If you've used too many eggs in your pastry dough, water in the egg yolk will start to separate from the yolk. Once the pastry is baking in the oven, this water then evaporates, causing the structure of the pastry to tighten up and shrink. The dough is too thick to pipe.

The most used fat is butter, but choux pastry can be made also with oil, margarine or lard. The higher is the content of fat, the more the cream puff will be crumbly and rounded with a smooth surface. Less is the fat (compared to the flour), lighter the cream puff will be (with an irregular and cracked surface).

If the problem is the dough consistency, add flour one tablespoon at a time until the dough is no longer runny. After adding more flour, cook the dough over the stove for a couple of minutes to get rid of the flour taste.

The essential ingredients are butter, water, flour and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in the dough evaporates when baked, puffing the pastry.

If your batter ended up being too runny, possibly you have added a little too much eggs. To fix this, cook a paste using roughly half the choux recipe (water, milk, flour, butter similar to how you started). Hold the piping bag in an angle. One hand to squeeze and the other hand to guide and control the movement.

Choux pastry has two important stages. First you cook it and then you bake it. For the liquid, you can use water or milk or a combination of both. We choose the combination of both because this way you get a nice color and tender bite, but the extra water also allows for baking at a slightly higher temperature.

How to keep choux crispy? ›

Returning the baked choux to a turned-off oven helps keep them crisp.

The choux pastry is too thick: If the choux pastry doesn't fall from the wooden spoon, then it's too thick. Whisk an egg in a bowl and gradually in a thin stream start adding a small amount of the whisked egg into the mixture, while mixing with an electric mixer.

If too much egg is added or if it is added too quickly, the Choux's ability to rise when baked will be affected. Similarly, if not enough egg is incorporated, it won't puff, causing it to be dense inside.

Not many choux pastry recipes call for sugar, but only 2 teaspoons provide a little flavor. The bulk of the pastry dough is eggs. Eggs provide some leavening, allowing the pastries to puff up when baked. The centers are soft, light, and airy.

If the problem is the dough consistency, add flour one tablespoon at a time until the dough is no longer runny. After adding more flour, cook the dough over the stove for a couple of minutes to get rid of the flour taste.

Second, it is important to cook the flour for a few minutes before adding the eggs. This will help to develop the gluten in the flour, which will give the dough its structure. Finally, it is important to not overmix the dough after the eggs are added. Overmixing can make the dough tough.

One reason is that you did not stir fry your dough long enough to dry up the excess moisture or you added too much eggs. Too much moisture causes the choux pastry to sink. The other important reason is your oven was not preheated enough. The oven must be very hot the moment you put your choux pastry dough in to bake.

Heat is the enemy of Puff Pastry—it handles best when cold. So avoid working with it on hot, humid days, in a stifling hot kitchen or next to your oven. Puff Pastry works best when cold.