Simple Choux Pastry

Another rainy Sunday afternoon in England and with some left over fresh custard, I decided it might be a good time to attempt a batch of choux pastry puffs. I had always heard that choux pastry was a difficult recipe to master and easy to get wrong so I was a bit nervous. 

Following a recipe in one of my mum's worn-out Japanese cookbooks, I whipped up a bunch of light and crispy choux pastry puffs in next to no time.

The only thing to note about this recipe is that you've got to work quite quickly while you're whipping up the batter on the hob, so have all the necessary ingredients at the ready.
Ingredients (makes 12 good-sized choux pastry puffs, perfect for profiteroles or custard puffs)

45g butter
75ml water
65g self-raising flour
120g beaten egg (roughly 2 large eggs)
A pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line a baking tray with baking parchment
2. Over a large fire, melt the butter and water in a saucepan. Add the pinch of salt.
3. When the butter is fully melted and the mixture is bubbling, lower to a medium fire and add the flour
4. Stir the mixture quickly on the hob until the flour in fully incorporated into the water and butter. When it all comes together and resembles a dough, take the pan off the heat
5. Gradually add the beaten egg to the mixture in thirds until fully mixed and the dough becomes a soft batter
6. Using a spoon or a piping bag, place good-sized dollops of the mixture onto the baking tray

 7. Place the tray into the oven and bake for 15 minutes at 180c. Then turn down the oven to 140c and bake for a further 5 minutes until golden brown

And there you have it. A fresh batch of light and crispy choux pastry puffs. 

I split them open and filled them with lots and lots of fresh custard.

Enjoy!