Chocolate Choux

Recipe:

Prepare the craquelin.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Knead until smooth.

Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper to a layer about 2 mm thick. Freeze.

For the choux pastry, sift the flour and cocoa powder.

Place the water, milk, salt, sugar and cubed butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until the butter melts. Remove and stir in flour mixture. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until dough comes together and a crust begins to form on the bottom, about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring with a spatula until completely smooth. Watch the consistency – it should not be too runny. Depending on the size of your eggs, you may need more or less eggs. To be on the safe side, beat the last egg with a fork in a bowl and add it in batches. The dough should be smooth and shiny.

Fill the dough into a pastry bag with a “French star” tip and chill for an hour. Leave it on the table until it reaches room temperature, then transfer it to the refrigerator.

When the dough has rested, pipe it onto a lined baking sheet.

Remove the craquelin from the freezer and use a cookie cutter to cut circles of the appropriate diameter. The diameter of the circles should be slightly larger than the diameter of the choux pastry. Place the craquelin on top of the choux.

Preheat the oven to 200 °C.

Place the tray of dough in the preheated oven and immediately turn the thermostat to 170 °C.

Do not turn on convection!

Bake until done, about 35 minutes (it may take a little more or less time depending on the specifics of a particular oven). Do not open the oven during the first 25 minutes of baking.

Remove the finished choux from the baking sheet and make a hole in the side to fill with the custard cream.

Allow to cool completely.

Prepare the custard.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch.

Mix the milk with the heavy cream, bring to a boil and whisk into the egg mixture.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Return the saucepan to the stove over medium heat and cook until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Stir to combine.

Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (so that the wrap is directly on top of the cream).

Allow to cool to room temperature, then add the room temperature butter and whisk until smooth.

Pour the custard into a pastry bag and fill the choux.

Enjoy!