Filled Pate a Choux Swans – Daring Bakers, Ugly Ducklings and Swans
“I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats and I don’t intend to waste any of mine.”
Neil Armstrong
When the pastry turned from ugly ducklings into swans it was definitely an ‘almost missed a heartbeat’ moment! Ever since I got these gorgeous glasses from Urban Dazzle, I thought coffee filled pate-a-choux drizzled with melted chocolate would look beautiful in them! Fancy getting to the Daring Bakers rather late this month, and finding one of the easiest pastries ever but with a delightful challenge woven in – Filled Pate a Choux Swans!
Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild!
It was a strange coincidence that I’d been thinking choux pastry the last few weeks and knew I HAD to make the swans even though they did look a little formidable. My only concern was the pastry creme filling, given the hot and humid weather these days. However, the month passed in a heartbeat {what is it with time these days?} and the challenge got left behind!Then 2 days ago at Veda for a Delhi Bloggers Table meet, the very talented and sweet {wickedly so if I may add} food blogger and fellow Daring Baker Ruchira fished out a pastry bag clandestinely and whispered, “Have got these. How much do I snip to get the necks right? Mine are just not piping OK!”You need a trigger sometimes … sometimes stronger than Mr PABs persistent prod when he doesn’t see a show stopper by the 25th of any month. This was it! The next evening it was choux pastry time, done in minutes by the ever efficient Thermomix! The weather has been REALLY drippy and wet the past week, and all of last night too {the pic above is from this morning}. Humidity is HIGH … and crisp pastry proved elusive.The arty daughter decided to pipe a few swan necks too, and got the one that looks the best! See…Made the pastry cream last night {Thermomix again, 7 minutes and done} … and just as my DB alarm rings out loud on my phone, I am hitting the keyboard while the pictures download! Breathless as always, so much to do and so little time … but I got there! Thank you for the inspiration Ruchira @ Cookaroo!I loved the way these came out … whimsical, charming, romantic like a fairytale! Much like the ugly duckling story we read when we were little. I would have liked to whip some home made mascarpone that I had left over into the pastry cream, but there was no time!Pate a choux is one of the simplest and lightest pastries to make – think chooclate eclairs, think Croquembouche, think profiteroles, think cream, puffs or think gougères. One delightful, light as air, crisp golden puff and so much variety. I love that you need very basic ingredients, a strong arm and you are good to go!The Thermomix Cookbook had a choux recipe in there, so my work was easy! The tough part was the waiting to see if the necks came out good, if the piped out ‘poopy‘ shapes made the ugly ducklings into swans, if the crème patisserie would hold. Worked a charm! The swans remind me of Tchaikovskys Ugly Duckling … a ballet we attached on TV several times as kids; the LP would play forever at home!
Thank you Kat, and thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here and check out some more fabulous swan songs!!!
Summary: Light as air p’pate a choux swans filled with a crème patisserie. Choux recipe source: Good Housekeeping Illustrated Guide to Cooking, 1980 edition. Crème patisserie recipe source adapted from Thermomix Cookbook
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour {plus cooling time}
Ingredients:
- Pate a choux (cannot be doubled)
- ½ cup (120 ml) (115 gm) (4 oz) butter
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- ¼ teaspoon (1½ gm) salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- Crème patisserie
- 75g raw sugar {or granulated
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
- 200ml low fat cream
- 300ml 2% milk
- 4 eggs
- 40g cornflour
Method:
- Pate a choux
- Line at least two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper, or grease pans well.
- Preheat oven to moderately hot 190°C.
- In a small saucepan, combine butter, water, and salt. Heat over until butter melts, then remove from stove.
- Add flour all at once and beat, beat, beat the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot.
- Add one egg, and beat until well combined. Add remaining eggs individually, beating vigorously after each addition. Resulting mixture should be somewhat glossy, very smooth, and somewhat thick.
- Thermomix Recipe
- Place water, salt, sugar and butter in TM bowl and cook at 100C /Speed 2 for 10 minutes.
Add the flour and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4. Allow to cool for around 10 minutes.
Once cool, add eggs to the mix by dropping one egg at a time onto rotating blades for 30-40 seconds each on speed 5. - … the choux swans
- Using a ¼” (6 mm) tip on a pastry bag, pipe out about 36 swan heads. You’re aiming for something between a numeral 2 and a question mark, with a little beak if you’re skilled and/or lucky.
- Remove the tip from the bag and pipe out 36 swan bodies{ I got about 28}. These will be about 1.5” (40 mm) long, and about 1” (25 mm) wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other.
- Bake the heads and bodies until golden and puffy. {I baked the heads and bodies in separate lots}. The heads will be done a few minutes before the bodies, so keep a close eye on the baking process.
- Remove the pastries to a cooling rack, and let cool completely before filling
- Crème patisserie
- In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon in a big bowl until the mixture becomes pale and light. Stir in the flour slowly until it is thoroughly mixed with the egg mixture.
- Pour the boiling milk into the mixture a little by little while whisking continuously to avoid curdling. And then stir in the rest of the milk until the mixture is well combined.
- Transfer the whole mixture into a pot, with the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean, and heat it under low setting. Stir it constantly with the wooden spoon or spatula scraping the sides and bottom until it has thickened.
- Once the custard has thickened, take it off the heat, and strain / pour it into a clean bowl.
- Thermomix Recipe
- Place sugar and vanilla bean in TM bowl, and process for 30seconds on speed 10.
- Add remaining ingrdeints, plus vanilla bean shell and cook on 90C/Speed 4 for 7 minutes {until thick}. Strain into a bowl immediately to cool. I chilled it overnight.
- Assembling
- Take a swan body and use a very sharp knife to cut off the top 1/3rd to ½. Cut the removed top down the center to make two wings.
- Dollop a bit of filling into the body, insert head, and then add wings. {I used some pastry cream to secure the wings too}.
- Your first attempt will probably not look like much, but the more you make, the more your bevy of swans will become a beautiful work of swan art.
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40 Comments
Renata
Deeba, you’re phenomenal! I wish I could accomplish a challenge in such short time and with fabulous results. Your girl is indeed talented! Your photos are wonderful, as always! Congrats on the great job!
Deeba @ PAB
Renata, you always make my day shine!
sangeeta khanna
Oh wow..how beautiful.
Words fail me at such times.
You are an artist I told you na !!!!
Rosa
So pretty! You did a great job here.
Cheers,
Rosa
Smita
Simply gorgeous …. truly a work of art !!!
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes
Beautiful swans! Perhaps next time I make them I can borrow your daughter to pipe my necks for me?!?
Ruchira
Such beautiful swans. What gorgeous necks. How you can possibly call me your inspiration I don’t get. YOU are the inspiration. I might have been the egger. 🙂
belllii
I remember when I w in high-school on a trip to Quebec City. We stayed at the Chateaux Frontenac and pate choux swans wee on the dessert sideboard.
Sarvani @ baker in disguise
woww.. these are phenomenal!! they look so graceful.. have called everyone around me to have a look at them!!!
indugetscooking
Very very beautiful swans. Glad you made them, they make me swoon.
Anusha
Deeba, if the swans are so gorgeous how can someone eat them!!!
Himanshu @ The White Ramekins
your swans look so beautiful….now I am thinking that I too should have given them a try
Jill
Quite stunning with all the elegance of a real swan, well done to you.
Happy Cook / Finla
They look absloutley adorable.
Lora
Well done Deeba. Just beautiful!
saras
Awesome this looks soo cute and attractive..Thanks for the Recipe dear..
marilyne_k
Gorgeous pictures, very impressiv! Do I stop vanilla in your pâte à choux?
Johnny
There is absolutely no way I could ever make those. That’s too bad too because I bet the ladies would really eat ’em up, both literally and figuratively!
Marjorie (Sugar for the Brain)
They are superb!!! Well done! Beautiful photos too!
What's for dessert?
Pictures are beautiful and your swans are perfect!
Nichole
Your swans are gorgeous! Excellent work.
Shelley C
Hahahaha! Waiting to see if the piped poopy shapes will puff up – it’s so true! 🙂 You did an absolutely beautiful job and your swans look lovely.
Sarah Galvin (All Our Fingers in the Pie)
These are beautiful. Well Done!
Suma Rowjee
Absolutely a show-stopper Deeba!! Your choux swans look so very graceful and beautiful! Pastry cream in crisp choux pastry, yum!! I am inspired to try making these, hopefully successfully!
gloria
omygod Deeba these look absolutely amazing and beauty
Runnergirlinthekitchen
Start to Finish only one word – Stunning!!
Priya
Super cute and fabulous swans..
mj@cardamomhills
Bookmarking this….those swans took my breath away!!! 🙂
abha
Deeba you are a talented food artist.These swans are perfect.
There are couple of thing which i can’t follow in the recipe ,firstly did you use the egg whites too in the creme
patisserie and secondly when do you add the low fat creme into the creme.
turmericnspice
Awesome job on the challenge !! it was such a lovely challenge enjoyed working on it. Thxs to your post that motivated me to work on it….i was not going to do this month’s challenge …till i saw this !! had to taste how these swans look
Rekha Kakkar
Just can’t stop swooning over these swans … coming over to this post 4th time just to see these beauties 🙂
sdee
Lovely…
keralaflowerplaza.com
Helene
What a great job! I really like pâte a choux. Delicious!
Wicked Goodies
Nice job! Reminds me of culinary school.
kouky
lovely swan!!!
Jamie
Gorgeous! Perfect! I have to tell you that when we lived in the suburbs outside of Paris, right on the edge of a huge forest, we put on our rubber boots one Sunday for a long trek through the forest, JP and I, the 2 boys (then in grade school) and the dog. We tromped through the trees, through mud, over paths and in and out of the trees, always hunting for chestnuts or mushrooms. And when we got about halfway to wherever Jp was dragging us, we were exhausted. But he said “wait, there is a bakery down this path. Who wants a treat?” and he left and came back with – whipped cream-filled choux swans. What a delight! They’ve always been his absolute favorite and sadly bakeries here make them less and less. They used to be fairly common; no longer. And I’ve sworn I would make them at home but haven’t yet. Yours do inspire me!
Hemlata @ indiamarks.com
Wonderful !!!!!!!!! I like your creation. It is also delicious and yummy. Thanks for sharing……….
Katb.
I’ve never been the baker in my family, but my mouth is watering and I am truly inspired. Pastry chefs, look out! Thanks for sharing such beautiful photos.
Parsimonious Decor Darling
I found this via a Pinterest pin, which led to a Tumblr account, and then to you. This is absolutely sublime! Beautifully done!
Deeba @ PAB
Thank you so much!