Chouquettes
Little one-bite clouds of sugared choux puffs.
Chouquettes aren’t as well known in the US as gougere are, but they should be—made with the same pate a choux recipe as eclairs, crullers, and gougere (which are savory, with the addition of cheese), they are light little one-bite puffs that are only sweetened with the pearl sugar on top.
They are a little like popcorn—best eaten as soon as they are made, fun to make, and can be flavored with everything from the plain pearl sugar, to cinnamon sugar, to finely chopped sugared nuts. You could gild the lily and fill them with a bit of pastry cream as well, which would turn them into mini profiteroles.
RECIPE
Yield about 30 chouquettes
•100g / 7 Tbs butter
•240ml / 1 C water (or 3/4 water, 1/4 milk)
•1/2 tsp kosher salt
•1 Tbs sugar
•150g / 1 C + 5 tsp gf flour
•4 large eggs, broken into a cup • Pearl sugar for decoration, cinnamon sugar, or finely chopped nuts (1/4 cup) in addition to pearl sugar
Preheat oven to 400º.
Prepare a piping bag and 1/2-inch round tip, or a plastic bag with a hole cut in the bottom and baking pans with either parchment or silicone liners. If you prefer, you can drop the batter by spoon or mini scoop onto the prepared trays.
Bring the butter, water (or water/milk), salt and sugar to a boil in medium pot. Dump in flour all at once and stir over medium heat until it forms a cohesive dough and pulls away from the bottom of the pot. Cook for another minute, pushing the dough against the bottom and stirring/scraping. If you aren’t using non-stick, there should be a slight film of dough that develops on the bottom of the pot.
Use a stand or handheld mixer: Transfer the flour mixture to the bowl of the mixer and, starting on low, mix in one egg. Beat until incorporated. Add the rest of the eggs one at a time in the same manner, increasing speed to medium/high. It will seem like it won’t come together, but keep mixing and it will. Beat another minute after it’s all come together. The mixture should be very thick, and slowly drop from the beater when it’s done.
Transfer the dough to the prepared bag and pipe out 1-inch rounds, or spoon or scoop onto the baking sheets. Dampen your fingers to smooth out any tails. Generously sprinkle the pearl sugar on the chouquettes (or whatever topping you like from suggestions in recipe). They will expand a lot while baking, so make sure to coat them well.
Bake for 10 minutes at 400º, then lower oven temperature to 375º and bake for another 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
Best eaten the day they are made. If serving the next day, they benefit from a few minutes in a 350º oven to crisp them up a bit.