I have been making « choux » pastry for almost a year, and never took the time to share the recipe up until now. You should not fail to get the same results as I have, provided you follow my instructions and tips 😉 !
Of course you are welcome to try it with substitutions. Regular dairy milk should enhance the texture of these choux, as should butter. I had first experimented (here) with rice+millet+cornstarch for pastries filled with dairy-free crème pâtissière; those were good too. Since then, I have practically fallen in love with teff flour and also tried to keep my flour mixes simpler. It turns out starches are not always necessary in gluten-free baking, contrary to popular belief !
Also, I have found that choux, once baked, can be frozen and kept for future use. All you need is to let them defrost before filling. You can also warm them up in a 185°C / 365°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. You may fill them with a sweet custard or something salty, which I did on Christmas day: a mixture of mozzarella cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. To fill them, just dig a small hole at the bottom in which you insert a piping bag.
Ingredients (for 12 to 15 choux)
– 35 g rice flour
– 35 g teff flour (would love to hear if buckwheat flour would be a possible substitute)
– 125 ml non-dairy milk for us ; here I prefer soy milk rather than almond milk. If you can have dairy, go ahead !
– 60 ml grapeseed oil, chosen for its neutral flavor ; olive oil would probably be fine too, although stronger in taste. If you want to use butter, I would advise you to measure the 60 ml from melted butter
– natural sea salt, unrefined and without any additives non raffiné
– 2 whole eggs, beaten. Mine weigh an average of 60-65 g each!
– some olive oil
How to:
1. Mix the rice and teff flours. Line a baking tray with a sheet of lining paper, brushing it lightly with some olive oil.
2. In a stainless steel pan (NOTE : choice of pan is important, you want something that will not scratch), pour milk and oil / butter, add salt and bring to a boil. When using oil the liquids won’t mix very well but it doesn’t matter.
3. When you have reach the boiling stage, dump the flour mix ALL AT ONCE and mix with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring clockwise until the dough starts lumping (huddling?) together and forms a ball. Cook this ball-shaped dough between 1 and 2 minutes, still stirring.
4. Remove from heat. Now YOU NEED TO COOL THE DOUGH slightly. I do it with my electric egg-beater. The dough will be all broken up, no longer resembling a ball.
In the mean time, preheat your oven to 185°C / 365 °F, FAN-FORCED.
5. To make the next step easier, put the beaten eggs in a measuring cup. Very gradually pour into the dough, beating with electric egg-beater : this will prevent your eggs from cooking. Beat well, about 5 minutes, until it turns into a smooth shiny batter.
6. Using a piping bag, form small mounds on the prepared lined tray. Don’t tell anyone, but I am not a pro at this ; I often end up smoothing the top of my mounds with a wet finger !
7. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. You can peak at your rising choux through the closed door, but DO NOT AT ANY TIME OPEN THE OVEN DOOR. Even after said 20 minutes you need to PATIENTLY WAIT ANOTHER HALF HOUR before you can finally get your little marvels out of the oven. Be warned : if you don’t, they will miserably collapse as they cool down !
One last photo: my very first choux, made with rice flour + millet flour + cornstarch, stuffed with crème pâtissière, and (very) roughly decorated with caramel, and shared with my parents to celebrate their wedding anniversary last June!
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