It feel like I’ve been waiting for patisserie week to come
around for so long and it’s finally here, and I’m not mad at the challenges. In
fact, I really liked them.
Choux buns, delicious. Mini opera style cake slices,
impressive. Meringue desserts, yaaaaass.
So all in all, this week was enough to sort of, maybe, kind
of heal the loss of Liam. Still not over it, but I’m sticking with Sophie for
my pegged winner. She had a great week too and was a very worthy star baker.
She’s had some pretty consistently good bakes too.
I took on the signature challenge this week of choux buns
and it took me right back to my Food Technology days of making choux pastry at
school. The process is quick and easy, and I find you do tend to get great
results every time with choux pastry.
On their own, I kind of miss a dollop of chocolate to make
them profiteroles. However, this craquelin topping has made me a huge convert.
It’s like a delicious crunch on top and I can’t really explain it any other way
than that.
(Blame the Monday and lack of sleep this weekend for the
lack of descriptive words)
Inside these little craquelin topped choux buns is a
delicious Biscoff crème patisserie cream filling and oh my gosh was it
delicious. I thought Biscoff was pretty apt to include in a Signature challenge
because I love the stuff and would happily eat it by the spoon. It’s so easily
included in so many bakes but I’ve never seen it in a crème pat before.
I’m now urging
everyone to try it.
I also made some regular choux buns, as I sort of ran out of
the craquelin circles, and I just found that they felt now way too plain in
comparison.
The topping kept these choux buns in perfect similar shapes too,
with no wonky or lopsided tops. Next time I make choux buns, I will definitely
be adding this crunchy topping.
The only thing I will say about these craquelin choux buns
is that you must fill, serve and eat them all within the same day. The crème
pat can be kept in the fridge for 2 days and the buns can be warmed up in the
oven for a couple of minutes if you are making them before hand, but any
leftovers stored in an airtight container, will turn this crunchy topping into
a soft consistency that doesn’t taste as great.
So devour all on the day... which really isn’t that hard
tbh.
It’s the final this week! Even though I feel this year
hasn’t been as exciting as other Bake Off years, I’m still looking forward to
the final, mainly for the challenges and to see how they all do. But I don’t
know how I feel about next year, that being said, I’ll probably still give in
and watch it.
What did you think of
Patisserie Week? Have you tried the craquelin choux bun topping before?
Biscoff Craquelin Choux Buns
Makes around 20 choux buns
Ingredients:
Craquelin topping
50g light brown
10g dark brown sugar
60g plain flour
55g unsalted butter, softened
Choux pastry
110g plain flour
50g unsalted butter, cubed
100ml water
100ml whole milk
1/2 tsp caster sugar
3 medium eggs, room temperature and beaten together
1 egg yolk, for egg wash
Crème pastisserie
425ml whole milk
6 medium egg yolks, room temperature
60g caster sugar
50g cornflour
50g unsalted butter, room temperature, cubed
3tbsp biscoff spread
Directions:
- First make the craquelin by mixing together the sugar, butter and flour in a small bowl. Beat together until it comes together as a smooth, soft dough. Place ball on a sheet of parchment paper before placing another sheet on top and rolling out to 1/4 inch thick. Then take the dough, still in the parchment paper, and place in the freezer to set.
- Next, make the choux pastry and preheat the oven to gas mark 8/450F/230C. Sift the flour into a bowl and place to the side for the moment. Place the butter, water, milk and sugar into a heavy based pan and place over a low heat. Melt the ingredients together, being careful to not let it boil. When the butter has melted, then turn up the heat so it comes to the boil, all the while stirring. After, remove from heat and then add the flour and stir with a wooden stir to combine, returning to a low heat. Beat the mixutre quickly until it comes together in a glossy dough ball. You'll know when it's ready as it will come away from the sides and become a ball.
- Next place the dough mixture into a bowl and leave to cool until just warm to touch. With an electric whisk or stand mixer, gradually add the beaten eggs while mixing slowly. Keep mixing until it comes together, it might look like it's curdled, but keep beating as it will come together to become a smooth, soft and glossy dough.
- Place the mixture into a piping bag and pipe small 4-5cm balls of dough on a baking sheet. Brush the tops of each ball with egg wash, this will help flatten the top of the choux pastry peaks.
- Remove the craquelin from the freezer and cut small circles, roughly 3cm, smaller than your choux pastry rounds. Then place the craquelin circles on top of each choux ball. Place in the oven and turn the oven down to gas mark 5/375F/190C, for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Make sure to turn/switch your sheets around at the 15 minute mark.
- Once baked, remove from pan and place on wire rack, piercing the base with a skewer to let the steam out and leave to cool completely.
- To make the biscoff crème patisserie, pour the milk into a pan and gently bring to a rolling boil. Place the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour into a bowl and whisk until combined and smooth. After the milk has been brought to the boil, remove from heat to cool for a few minutes. (this is to not scramble the egg mixture) Then slowly add spoonfuls of hot milk to the egg mixture while stirring consistently. This will gently brill the eggs up to the same temperature. Then once one third of the hot milk has been added and whisked in, add the rest of the milk and keep whisking until well combined. Then return to a low heat, still whisking until the the mixture thickens. When you feel it thicken, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Lastly, whisk in Biscoff spread until thick, creamy and smooth. Leave to cool by pressing a sheet of cling film onto the top of the crème pat, to stop it from forming a skin.
- Before serving, place the Biscoff crème pat into a piping bag with a long nozzle and pipe into the base of each buns until they feel heavy and full. Serve immediately and eat even quicker!
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