Making Choux pastry - Cream Puffs without a piping bag requires only a couple of spoons for this classic dessert topped with a chocolate glaze that comes together with no special equipment.
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And today, Iโm going to talk you through making it in your own kitchen because honestly, nothing should stop you from having a batch of these cream puffs in your home so keep scrolling to see how you can make these at home and then brag that you just did some French baking because these come together quickly, easily and can be baked ahead.
Ingredients for Choux Pastry - Cream Puffs without a piping bag
- Bread flour: This gives the choux pastry their firm crust as it bakes. The protein in bread flour is higher than plain flour which helps form the famous crust that we're aiming for with our pastry.
- Butter: The melted butter along with the water helps the dough be light.
- Eggs: The eggs help our choux pastry keep their structure during baking.
- Cream: Without cream, we wouldn't have something to bite into and it's just so good plain or flavored here!
- Chocolate: Melted chocolate compliments the cream puff beautifully and for a better result you'll want a block of chocolate as opposed to chocolate chips or baking chocolate which tends to be lower quality and have more additives.
- Honey: A little honey in the chocolate ganache as a depth of flavor and brings the entire chocolate sauce together. You could sub with maple syrup or golden syrup here instead, if you prefer.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Choux Pastry - Cream Puffs without a piping bag:
Step 1: Sift: The flour into a small bowl and add the sugar. Set aside.
Step 2: Heat: The water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering.
Step 3: Stir swiftly: Toss the sifted flour and sugar into the mixture until the dough no longer sticks to the sides.
Step 4: Whip: Add in ยผ of the beaten eggs until smooth and repeat with remaining eggs.
Step 5: Shape: Take half a tablespoonful amount of the dough and sh ape into a ball with an opposing tablespoon
Step 6: Bake and cool: Bake until golden, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully.
Step 7: Cream filling: Stir the cream and whipped sugar together and slice near the bases of the cream puffs to fill with a spoon.
Step 8: Choc top: Heat the cream until hot then stir in the chocolate and honey until smooth. Drizzle over your cream puffs.
Step 9: Serve up: Plate up, serve and dig in!
FAQ's for the best Choux Pastry - Cream Puffs without a piping bag
As per usual choux pastry baking, do not leave out the essential step of ensuring you have water droplets across your entire baking tray. This helps give the pastries their perfect firm exterior.
Choux pastry needs to be well and truly golden like medium toast as this results in the pastries being properly baked which ensures they don't collapse once removed from the oven. The larger your cream puffs the longer theyโll need to become golden.
Small cream puffs would need 22-25 minutes baking versus larger would need 27-30 minutes so ensure you allow them to be truly golden brown before removing from the oven.
Yes as this ensures the tops don't burn during baking and they rise more evenly as per piped pastries.
The cream puffs filled here are with plain old regular whipped cream, however, you can flavor your cream with anything from cocoa powder to freeze dried or crushed fruit. Begin flavoring your cream with 1 teaspoon of powder or 1 tablespoon of crushed fruit and add a little more at a time until you have your desired flavor.
The chocolate sauce in the recipe below is a ganache which might not work with the ingredients you have, so you could easily substitute by making an easy cocoa icing for the tops or dip the tops of your cream puffs into melted chocolate instead of pouring chocolate over. Alternatively you could dip into plain white chocolate, freeze dried fruit powder stirred through white chocolate or pour over caramel for a twist.
The filled pastries are best served the same day they are made. However, you can make these ahead and keep covered for 1 day prior to filling and covering in the chocolate syrup.
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Choux Pastry - Cream Puffs without a piping bag
Ingredients
Choux pastry
- 70 grams / ยฝ cup bread flour
- 14 grams / 1 tablespoon superfine/caster sugar
- 130 grams / ยฝ cup + 1 teaspoon cold water
- 50 grams / 1.75 ounces butter cubed
- 90 grams / 2 medium eggs room temperature and lightly whisked
Chocolate sauce
- 75 grams / โ cup heavy cream
- 50 grams / 1.75 ounces dark chocolate finely chopped
- 7 grams / 1 teaspoon honey
Cream filling
- 113 grams / ยฝ cup whipped cream
- 8 grams / 1 tablespoon confectionerโs/icing sugar
Instructions
Choux pastry
- Preheat the oven to 200ยบC/390F and lightly grease a baking tray, pouring water over the top and taping to remove excess (you want water beads on the tray to create a steamy atmosphere during baking).
- Sift the flour into a small bowl and add the sugar. Set aside.
- Place the water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture has begun simmering.
- Remove from the heat and pour the sifted flour and sugar into the mixture, stirring swiftly with a wooden spoon to combine until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the saucepan.
- Add in ยผ of the beaten eggs and beat the dough until smooth, continue adding the eggs in the same manner until all have been combined.
- Take half a tablespoonful amount of the dough and shape into a ball with an opposing tablespoon and place onto the prepared baking tray, continue with the remaining dough and allowing 1 inch between the dough.
- Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes.
- Increase the heat to 220ยบC/430F, turn the tray around and bake for a further 12-17 minutes or until the pastries are lightly golden.
- Remove from the heat and place on a cooling rack, allowing to cool fully.
- Stir the whipped cream and sugar together until smooth.
- Slice a choux pastry open slightly near the base and carefully spoon a tablespoon of whipped cream into the center until all have cream therein.
Chocolate sauce
- Heat the double cream in a small bowl and over a double boiler or in a microwave until itโs smooth and hot, stir in the chocolate and honey until it is smooth.
- Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the tops of the cream puffs.
- Serve.
Video
Notes
- Bread flour: This gives the choux pastry their firm crust as it bakes. The protein in bread flour is higher than plain flour which helps form the famous crust that we're aiming for with our pastry.
- Chocolate: Melted chocolate compliments the cream puff beautifully and for a better result you'll want a block of chocolate as opposed to chocolate chips or baking chocolate which tends to be lower quality and have more additives.
- Honey: A little honey in the chocolate ganache as a depth of flavor and brings the entire chocolate sauce together. You could sub with maple syrup or golden syrup here instead, if you prefer.
- Consistent sizing: The biggest difficulty is consistent sizing - because youโre taking an eyeball amount out of the bowl (or saucepan) so try to be as steady with your portions as possible when spooning and shaping.
- Smooth out the tops of your pastry: This ensures the tops don't burn during baking and they rise more evenly as per piped pastries.
- Flavoring your cream filling: The cream puffs filled here are with plain old regular whipped cream, however, you can flavor your cream with anything from cocoa powder to freeze dried or crushed fruit. Begin flavoring your cream with 1 teaspoon of powder or 1 tablespoon of crushed fruit and add a little more at a time until you have your desired flavor.
Nutrition
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