Pâte à Choux

Combine the water, cubed butter, salt, and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a full, rolling boil. The objective here is to melt the butter completely before the water boils — if the water boils first and begins to evaporate before the butter is melted, the fat-to-water ratio of the dough is compromised and the choux will be unpredictable. Watch carefully: as the butter melts you will see the water turn from clear to a slightly milky white emulsion. As it approaches the boil, the emulsion will foam up. The moment it reaches a full boil, proceed immediately to the next step — every extra second of boiling evaporates water and changes the dough's consistency.

Remove the pan from the heat and add all the sifted flour in one go. Beat immediately and vigorously with a wooden spoon — this is urgent. The hot butter-water must hydrate every flour particle in the first few seconds, and the starch must gelatinise instantly in the residual heat. Beat until no dry flour remains, then return the pan to medium heat. Cook the panade (the dough ball), stirring and pressing constantly, for 2–3 minutes. You are driving off moisture — the panade is ready when it pulls away completely from the sides of the pan, forms a cohesive ball in the center, and leaves a thin, dry film on the bottom of the pan. This film is the sign that enough water has evaporated. The dough will be very stiff and non-sticky at this point.

This is the most nuanced step in choux. Allow the panade to cool for 5 minutes (so it does not cook the eggs on contact), then begin adding the beaten eggs gradually — a tablespoon at a time for the first few additions, beating vigorously between each addition. The dough will at first look broken and curdled as the egg tries to separate from the fat in the panade. Keep beating — it will come back together. Do not add all the egg at once. The total egg needed varies with the exact water content of your panade, the protein content of your flour, and the ambient humidity. Stop adding egg when the dough reaches the correct consistency: when you lift the spatula and allow the dough to fall, it should drop in a slow, heavy 'V' shape that bends but does not break — the beak should be 2–3 cm long before it drops. Test by pulling the spatula through the dough: it should form a smooth channel that slowly closes.

Pipe the choux onto parchment-lined baking sheets: for profiteroles, make 3 cm rounds spaced 4 cm apart; for éclairs, pipe 10 cm lines. Dampen your fingertip and smooth any peaks. Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 10 minutes without opening the oven — the initial blast of heat causes rapid steam expansion that puffs the shells. Then reduce to 180°C (356°F) and bake for a further 15–20 minutes until the shells are deep golden-brown all over, not just on top. The shells must be fully coloured before you open the oven: a pale shell will collapse when it meets the cool air. In the final 5 minutes, crack the oven door open 5 cm to allow steam to escape and the shells to dry completely inside. Transfer to a wire rack and pierce each shell with a skewer at the base to vent remaining steam.