Choux make ups

Here are a few different things you can do with pâte a choux paste. When we think of pâte a choux, we usually think of eclairs filled with pastry cream and garnished with a nice shinny ganache with a little bit of white chocolate drizzled on top. And while that is pictured below, there are other things you can do with it.





Eclair (Fr. lightning bolt):
    Use an 804 tip
    Filled: pastry cream
    Glazed: ganache / stringing fondant / melted chocolate
    Variations: if you use a more savoury paste you can easily fill this shape with a savoury creamed item.




Cream Puffs:
   Use an 804 tip
   Filled: pastry cream, whipped cream
   Glazed: confectioners sugar, caramel
   Note: Croquembouche is a common usage for cream puffs that are dipped in caramel and then stacked on top of each other in a triangle shape.




Swans:
   Use an 826 tip, cone (or #4) tip
   Filled: whipped cream
   Glazed: confectioners sugar
   Note: this shape requires some assembly, but the cute factor that is achieved is quite worth the small amount of effort and time.




La Religieuse (Fr.  woman belonging to a religious order)
   Assembly: two different sized cream puffs, filled, the larger one dipped in chocolate and the smaller one dipped in stringing fondant. The assembly is supposed to mimic the image of a nun.
   Filled: pastry cream
   Glazed: ganach, stringing fondant




Paris-Brest: this shape was made to commemorate a bike race, it is supposed to look like a fast moving bicycle wheel.
     Use a 826 tip
     Filled: hazelnut pastry cream*
     Glazed: roasted almonds, confectioners sugar
*take about 2 T of hazelnut praline paste and 8 oz. of pastry cream and mix together. Add butter to the mixer until the mixture is about the consistency of buttercream. The butter allows the pastry cream to stabilize better since it is open to air and holds up without forming a crust.


Gâteaux St. Honoré:
This is a cake that we made in basic cake decorating. It was made in honor of the French patron saint for pastry chefs and bakers. It is a series of cream and cream puffs on top of a bed of puff pastry. And it resembles a crown when its finished.
    Filled:  crème chiboust ( pastry cream + gelatin + whipped cream)
    Glazed: caramel cage





Pête De Nonnes (Fr. nuns fart)
    Use an 804 tip
    MOP: pipe round oval shapes, about the size of a cream puff, into a fryer
    Glazed: confectioners sugar


Churros
    Use an 826 tip
    MOP: pipe star shaped sticks into the fryer
    Glazed: cinnamon and sugar


Gougère: 
    A savoury cream puff, usually has Gruyère cheese added to the choux pastry or is filled with the cheese.


Profiterole (choux à la crème)
   Use: 804 tip
   Filled:  ice cream
   Glazed: chocolate