Pate a choux is French for choux paste, which is still French for cabbage paste (which is why we so often stick with the French). You see, when you bake little dollops of choux paste, they puff up and look sort of like cabbages. If you squint. Anyway, they are wonderful. They're the base for eclairs and cream puffs (profiteroles). Since they bake up almost hollow due to the amount of eggs used and the steam created and the initial high-heat baking, they are the perfect receptacle for fillings both savory and sweet. Some classic French desserts, such as Gateau St. Honore, Croqembouche (crispy in mouth, again, we will stick with the French for this one) and Paris Brest use pate a choux as one of the basic components. This recipe is based on one found in The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
1 cup water
3 1/2 oz. unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt (for use in a savory preparation, increase salt to 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon of sugar (for use in a savory preparation, decrease sugar to 1 teaspoon )
5 oz. all purpose flour
4-5 large eggs
Have your mixer bowl and stand mixer ready. Have four of the five eggs cracked and ready in a little bowl.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine and bring to a boil the water, butter, salt and sugar. When it is boiling, dump in the flour all at once and stir madly with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth ball of dough in the pan. Continue to cook for 1-2 more minutes to dry it slightly. Your dough will look a bit like Play-Doh.
Transfer your dough to your mixing bowl and let beat (use the paddle attachment) on medium for a couple of minutes to let some of the heat dissipate. If you don't, when you try and add your eggs, you will get little bits of scrambled eggs in your supposed-to-be-smooth pate a choux, and you will be sad.
After a couple of minutes, begin beating in the eggs one at a time. Beat on low and increase to medium for a few seconds. One egg should be completely incorporated before adding the next, and your dough should be smooth. After adding 4 eggs and beating well, lift up the paddle and check your consistency. The dough should be very smooth and shiny. It should fall from the beater very slowly and leave a peak at the end of the paddle. Turn the paddle upside down and the peak should slump over. Consistency is very important in the dough. Too stiff, and it won't puff adequately. If it's too loose, it will run and you will end up with something that looks vaguely like a Hot Pocket--flat and dumb.
If your dough seems a little stiff, add the white from the 5th egg and beat in well. Still stiff? Beat in the yolk if necessary.
Put your mixture in a piping bag fitted with a round or star tip and pipe onto parchment-lined sheet pans (Silpat works nicely here, as well). Pipe in little mounds to make cream puffs or profiteroles. Pipe in finger-sized snakes for eclairs. Pipe your initials. Those keen little swans that you see at country clubs are also make with pate a choux, so make some of those if you want. Add about 4 oz. of grated hard cheese--traditionally gruyere--and some pepper and you'll have gougeres. These are great appetizers and can be served unfilled for a light snack with some champagne.
At any rate, once you've piped your desired shapes, bake at 450 degrees, F (425 for convection) for 8-10 minutes for small sizes or 12-15 minutes for large. Then, turn the heat down to 375 degrees (350 for convection) and bake until deep golden brown and crisp--anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on the size. Don't check too early, but when you do check, if you gently squeeze them on either side, they should feel completely firm.
For gougeres, serve while still warm. For everyone else, cool at room temperature, then either slice the tops off to fill them, or fill them with a pastry bag from underneath. You can dip the tops in chocolate or sprinkle them with powdered sugar or whatever you want. Fill them with any flavor of pastry cream or ice cream.
