Choux pastry

A name that frequently emerges is that of Popelini, whose first name is unknown. A considerable number of websites refer to him as the supposed inventor of choux pastry around 1540. In 2011, a Parisian pastry shop specializing in cream puffs was named after him. Popelini seems to have first appeared in the early 1890s, in a book of Pierre Lacam[1]. Those who have read the writings of Lacam can easily conclude that he invented this "Chef Pasterelli [who] was named Popelini," chef of Catherine de' Medici, who "brought with him the recipe for a dough that was dried over the fire, which he made into an excellent dish that he named after himself at court; it was later called Popelin, instead of Popelini." Furthermore, investigation of records listing service personnel who worked with Catherine since her arrival in France until her death revealed the absence of any Italian chefs[2]. Rather than imagining Popelini shaping choux pastry, it is assumed that Lacam mainly created Popelini from choux pastry, and Pasterelli from the pastry.[3]

Royal chefs Jean Avice, a pâtissier, and Antoine Carême, who worked in the court of Marie Antoinette, wrote the first recipes of choux pastry in the 18th century, resulting in the recipe most commonly used now for profiteroles.[4]

The ingredients for choux pastry are butter, water, flour and eggs. Like Yorkshire pudding or David Eyre's pancake, instead of a raising agent, it employs high moisture content to create steam during cooking to puff the pastry. The high moisture content is achieved by boiling the water and butter, then adding the flour. The mixture is cooked a few minutes longer, then cooled before adding enough eggs to achieve the desired consistency. The boiling step causes the starch in the flour to gel, allowing the incorporation of more water.[5]

This pastry is used to make choux (small puffs), as the name implies, but also profiteroles, croquembouches, éclairs, religieuses, French crullers, beignets, St. Honoré cake, Parisian gnocchi, dumplings,[6] chouquettes (unfilled choux pastry paired with pearl sugar)[7] and gougères.

Choux pastry is usually baked, but for beignets, it is fried. In Spain and Latin America, churros are made of fried choux pastry, sugared and dipped in a thick hot chocolate for breakfast. In Italian cuisine, choux pastry is the base for zeppole di San Giuseppe which are cream-filled pastries eaten on March 19 for the feast of Saint Joseph. In Austrian cuisine, one variation of Marillenknödel, a sweet apricot dumpling[8] cooked in simmering water, uses choux pastry; in that case it does not puff, but remains relatively dense. Choux pastries are sometimes filled with cream after baking to make cream puffs or éclairs.[9]

A craquelin is covered in a "crackly" sugar topping — and often filled with pastry cream, much like an éclair.

Chouquette

Home-made chouquettes
Type	Choux pastry
Place of origin	France
Main ingredients	choux pastry, nib sugar; custard or mousse
Media: Chouquette

A chouquette (French pronunciation: ​[ʃukɛt]), a diminutive of choux, is a small, round, hollow choux pastry covered with pearl sugar.[10][11] Unlike éclairs which are also made with choux pastry, chouquettes are bite-sized and the hollow inside is not filled.

Chouquettes originate from Paris, and can be enjoyed at anytime of the day, typically for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.[12]

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  Mixing choux pastry dough for beignets
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  Piping out the dough for beignets with a pastry bag
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  Classic Profiteroles serving, with chocolate sauce

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