Round two!

The second choux recipe my girls and I attempted, was from the book The Great British Bake Off

Recipe:

Makes about 12 eclairs or 48 profiteroles

100g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
75g unsalted butter, diced
3 free range eggs, at room temperature, beaten

Put the salt, butter and 175ml of water into a medium-sized pan and heat gently until the butter has completely melted – don’t let the water boil and begin to evaporate.  Quickly bring the mixture just to the boil, then tip the flour in all in one go.

Remove from the heat and beat furiously with a wooden spoon.  The mixture will look a mess at first, but don’t worry – as you beat, it will turn into smooth, heavy dough.  Put the pan back on low heat and beat for two minutes to slightly cook the dough until it comes away from the sides of the pan in a smooth glossy ball.

Tip the dough into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool until barely warm.  Using an electric mixer (a wooden spoon, won’t give the same result) gradually beat the eggs into the dough, beating well after each addition.

Add enough egg to make a shiny paste-like dough that just falls from a spoon when lightly shaken.  You may not need the last tablespoon or so of egg because the dough must be stiff enough to pipe or spoon in to shapes; if the dough was too wet, it will spread out and not puff up in the oven.

The dough is now ready to shape.  Use immediately or cover tightly and keep at cool room temperature.  Use within four hours.