Sunday 1 September 2013

Eggless Pate Choux Pastry and Eggless Chocolate Mousse

This months challenge at Gayatri's Baking Eggless Group is Pate Choux Pastry and Chocolate Mouse. Choux pastry, or pâte à choux (pronounced : [pat a su] is a light pastry dough used to make perfiteroles, croquembouches, eclairs, Frenchcrullers, beignets and gougeres. It contains only butter, water/ milk, flour and egg.
When baking pate a choux, the choux is baked first at high temperature, and then finished at low temperature. The reason for this is that choux pastry is leavened with steam, rather than a chemical leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder, or a biological leavening agent like yeast. The high initial temp in baking choux is what generated the steam to cause it to rise. The word choux in French means cabbage and choux pastry gets its name from the fact that the little balls of choux paste used to make cream puffs resembles little cabbage.


 I have earlier tried baking egg-less cakes, brownies, cookies, souffle and even biscuits but never thought would bake eggless choux pastry. This months challenge inspired to make a go for trying it without using ener-g egg replacer. It was a marathon job to get the perfect choux pastry as my experiments with egg substitutes but all in vein was not able to get the satisfying result and my luck today i got flaxseed and thought of trying it and the result was very good. 

The other set back was of the recipe proportion of water/ milk in the recipe called for equal proportion it did not work for me as my pastry was too dry and after couple of various tries the best proportion worked for me was 2: 1 i.e 2 parts liquid and 1 part flour and 3:1 for baking powder and baking soda gave me the perfect result. 

Pate a Chox can be filled just as eclairs or you can stuff the cream/ mouse or can serve with mousse. I love pate a choux with chocolate icing.

This recipe makes 12 cream puffs.

Ingredients :
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup salted butter (55 gms)
1/2 cup All purpose flour/ white flour
1/4 +1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp flax seed powder
3 tbsp warm water

Method:


  1. Preheat oven at 400 c, line baking sheet with parchment / baking paper.
  2. Wishk flax seed powder and warm water.
  3. In a sauce pan combine water, milk, butter and sugar to boil over medium heat
  4. Seive APF, baking powder and soda well.
  5. Add flour and stir well, cook till it leaves sides of the pan.
  6. Remove from heat, let it cool. Add flax seed mixture in two parts.
  7. Whisk well till it forms sticky paste.
  8. Transfer the dough to pastry bag, and pipe out leaving 1" gap between two. Mix belted butter and milk for the wash.
  9. Bake for 15 mins ( full mark in cooking range) on high 400 c and then at 300 c for 8 mins. turn off the oven and prop the oven door open with the handle of wooden spoon.
  10. After 45 mins transfer the puffs on to cooling rack.
  11. When ready to serve pip in some cream, top with mouse.
Eggless Chocolate Mousse:

A mousse (French 'foam'/mu:s/) is a prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. It can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick depending on preparation techniques. A Mousse may be sweet or savory. Dessert mousse are typically made with whipped egg white and flavoured with chocolate or fresh fruit.

Basically eggless mousse calls for gelatin but in Nigeria it is very difficult to get vegetarian gelatin so experimented with heavy whipping cream, chocolate and butter. The result was wonderful.

Ingredients:
80 gms Dark Chocolate (70%)
40 gms Milk Chocolate
40 gms butter
1/2 cup heavy whipped cream

Method:
  1. Temper chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds on high.
  2. Again repeat if chocolate has not melted.
  3. Stir well to cool the chocolate.
  4. Whip the cream to stiff peaks.
  5. Fold in cream gently taking care not deflate.
  6. Set in small bowls or shot glass and set for hour or two.
Topping for mousse can vary from whipped cream, chopped fruit.

Please feel free to share your views and comments for the same.

8 comments:

  1. I am just wondering - you mention (and I have heard this elsewhere too) that pate à choux is only leavened with steam, but you include both baking soda and baking powder in your recipe. Do you think that the steam-only leavening would not work here? And if that is the case, do you think baking soda alone would do it?

    Thanks and regards,

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Michael yes i have included baking soda and baking powder for rising agent as it is eggless and it do rise with these agents but steam has a major role in rising. For instance like in dhokla which are steamed Indian cakes rise only by steam and baking soda & powder act as rising agent and steam locks the raised product.

      Hope am able to give you a justified answer

      Delete
  2. Hi. You mentioned bake on 400 c and 300 c temperature. But in my Morphy oven I don't have more than 230 c temperature. So how can I bake then on this temperature and for how many minutes?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      sorry for late reply. you can bake it with max temp in your MR oven. The result may vary but try to keep at bottom rack to get the effect

      Delete
  3. What does step 8 means-> mix melted butter nd milk for wash?

    Please clarify.

    Thanks
    Sara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. means mix melted butter and milk instead of egg wash just apply layer of this mix on pastry

      Delete
  4. Is the oven supposed to be open for step 10?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. after switch off Oven is supposed to be open in step 9.

      Delete

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