Pâte à Choux topped with streusel or crumble has some real advantages. One, a smooth rounded surface on profiteroles or éclairs is easily obtained. Two, the added flavor and texture of streusel is a welcoming factor to the rather bland flavor of Pâte à Choux. Three, profiteroles or éclairs expand much larger and more uniformly compared to choux paste which is not topped with streusel. Four, the interior of the choux paste products is visibly more hollow.
For us in the baking industry having éclairs or profiteroles crack in the oven is disappointing and therefore I bake choux paste at rather low oven temperatures. Using flour with fairly high protein content allows for extra eggs in the batter, which in turn permits lower oven temperatures but with good expansion of the products. Adding a small amount of steam in the oven as soon as the pate a choux is loaded in the oven also helps very well with the prevention of cracks.
Photo below: Profiteroles piped the same size, baked on same tray. The one topped with streusel expands visibly larger.
Pâte à Choux
| 8 oz | Milk | 240 g | |
| 8 oz | Water | 240 g | |
| 0.25 oz | Salt | 10 g | |
| 0.5 oz | Extra fine granulated sugar | 20 g | |
| 8 oz | Unsalted butter, cubed | 240 g | |
| 9.5 oz | Bread flour | 285 g | |
| 16 oz | Eggs, loosely beaten | 480 g | |
- In a saucepan bring to boil the water, milk, sugar, salt and butter.
- Remove from heat and immediately stir in sifted flour. Stir well until combined. Return to heat and stir until the dough releases from the sides and bottom, about 2 minutes.
- Place the mixture into a bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed gradually add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl often. Once 14 oz (420 g) of the eggs are added examine the batter, it should be smooth and have a light sheen. It should be firm enough to hold its shape when piped. Add the remaining egg if needed.
- Pipe the batter using a plain tip on parchment lined sheet pans.
- Cut the streusel in circles 10% smaller than the piped pate a choux and place on the surface.
- Place in a (lightly steam injected) oven at 350°F (180°C) with steam vent closed. When the products are well expanded, open the steam vent (or part oven door) to let the steam escape. Bake until the products are crisp when pressed on the sides. About 27-33 minutes for profiteroles.
Streusel (Crumble) topping for Choux paste
| 3 oz | Unsalted butter, very cold | 90 g | |
| 3.75 oz) | Brown sugar | 110g | |
| pinch | Salt | 1 g | |
| 3.75 oz | Bread flour | 110 g | |
- Cut the butter in small cubes and combine with all the ingredients in a machine bowl fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Mix on medium speed until a crumbly mixture is obtained. Remove from machine.
- Between parchment paper or plastic roll the streusel 2 credit cards thick. Place in freezer until hard.
- Cut the streusel in pieces 10% smaller than the piped pate a choux and place on the piped choux paste pieces.
- Place in oven and bake.
why is it that putting the streusel makes the dough rise more? seems counterintuitive. tx tracy
such an amazing recipe, thanks so much chef
Τhese are the best choux i ve ever seen..!!!
Thank you Tasos!
For sure Souad.
Hi Tracy,
The choux paste rises better since the steam is better contained within.
My best, Eddy
Thanks for sharing incredile knowledge…they look amazing…
How neat! Need to try this in the home ovens! Have been putting off trying choux paste at home and now have an extra reason to try it! Thank you, Chef! These look so good!
Nice, as always chef!
An old classic with an original twist. I will make these profiteroles soon!
can you flavor the strussel i.e chocolate, raspberry, pumpkin with a powder?
fascinating. tx!
Hi chef
it looks really delicious and it’s amazing i mean the combination between la pate a choux and the Streusel am going to try it , i love it
thank you chef
hey Chef Eddy~~
looks awesome… I m gonna try this on weekend.
may b filled with green tea ice cream since I m working japanese restaurant so gotta have some green tea 🙂 thank for the upload…
i will see u soon for spring semester~!
Pascal,
I like the idea of filling with green tea ice cream!
Eddy
Hi John,
You certainly can add cocoa powder to make it chocolate. Also spices will work. Most of the fruit powders will give non desired results. What I would recommend is sifting fruit powder over the profiterole after baking.
My best,
Eddy
Ooooh, these look a lot like those Beard Papa’s cream puffs! Have you heard of them? They claim some nonsense about wrapping the choux in pie dough to get the crispy tops but no one except maybe BraveTart(Stella Parks) has come close to figuring them out. Her technique is brushing the choux balls with simple butter cake batter.
Dear Eddy,
I may not be able to sleep tonight, the anticipation of trying this tomorrow is going to kill me! If it weren’t for the snow storm outside my window, I’d be tempted to go in tonight. Thanks for continuing to provide such beautiful pictures and recipes to the industry.
Best,
Luci
Could you use the same streusel mixer that we put on top of the apple pies?
could you fill these with a whip cream and make cream puffs ?
Baking the profiteroles right now and they look fabulous!
Baking the profiteroles right now and they look fabulous! Thanks!
Rene,
I am glad these are working out for you! Thank you for your note.
Eddy.
You sure can.
Very excited to try these tomorrow. I am baking in a Duke convection oven with NO steam. Is there a way around this….pan of water in oven while it comes to temperature then remove before baking??
Thanks!
Suzi
Hi Suzi,
Your idea of water in a pan sounds like a good one. I am certain you will be happy with the outcome.
Eddy.
Chef Eddy, with the crumble why should we use cold butter instead of room temperature butter?
Using room temperature butter will turn it into a creamy instead of a sandy/crumble mixture.
Eddy
I ate this one before and it had pastry cream inside….
What a fantastic way to bring profiteroles to a higher level. I’m still pondering over the logic of the larger expansion…
Making profiteroles had always seem intimidating to me, but as usually you make everything look so easy Chef. I am very surprise that the recipe is so simple, with simple ingredients that I usually have on hand. I have to say, I’ve never seen profiteroles with streusel on them. The streusel does give the profiteroles a lovely appeal. Beautiful work Chef!
I enjoy your recipes and your pictures chef. They are just beautiful.
Can you flavor pate a choux dough? For example melt chocolate into the batter to add some flavor
Hi there Sarah,
You can flavor Pate A Choux with cocoa powder. (remove some flour and replace with cocoa powder-add vanilla in this instance. Coffee is also a good option as some spices. Give it a try!
Eddy.
Hey chef , that’s a very nice way to cook the pate a choux , can you store it below 0 degrees ?
In the pastry shop i use to work for in paris we use to cook it , wait till it gets cold and store it in the coolroom . Then just fill it in the morning as you go.
Cheers and nice work again 🙂
This tasted more of a savory pastry. I’ve tried something similar in a Brazilian restaurant but they were filled with cheese, I think I will try something like that and not use the streusel.
I think the filling really made this a good dessert.
Hello Chef, would you be able to do an article on chocolate Pate a choux? i hope you can help me with it. mine don’t rise and if they do it is only a little bit and they are more cakey than cream puff.
It will do a chocolate choux paste article shortly.
This will be the only pate a choux recipe I’ll ever use. I finally got uniform, perfectly formed puffs.
This worked out great, even with using my work place’s choux recipe! One question though – is there any reason you use brown sugar for the streusel rather than regular white?
Delicious, that crunch contrast to the soft profiterole makes an excellent pair of texture that appeals to the mouth
Like you said, these freeze beautifully,. I pulled these out last night and brought to room temp.
Cut them in half , ice cream and garnished with chocolate caramel sauce.
They were an easy “WOW”!!!
I always wanted to know how to make puffed pastry. It was much easier to make than I thought it would be and I really enjoyed making them. I was also happy to learn how to fill them.
Thanks Chef Eddy
Is there a way you can do this for savory profiteroles? I’d like to fill them with a mushroom/onion soubise.
Thanks!
Thank you chef for this enlightening post for pate a choux. I have made them in the past with different flavor creams but never considered changing the exterior. I have had problems with them not rising uniformly. Now, you have provided a tasty solution. I am now tempted to add chipotle to the chocolate pastry cream.