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Happy Monday, my little darlings! 

A promise made, a promise kept! Yesterday I was telling you about Lauren and her choux, she offered me her recipe book and today I'm giving you one of them, a little modified! Lemonade cabbage, of course! When I made the appointment with Lauren, I wanted to bring photos of my choux made with her book. But I didn't really have the time to practice, to give it a try. And I don't know about you, but when I absolutely must make a success of a recipe, I revise the steps as I would for a BAC Philo test... I really want to know the steps so I can anticipate them and not end up with my hands full of dough, opening the oven door with my foot and holding a piping bag between my teeth! Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about... Anyway, the pressure was on and I only had one chance before our appointment to get my little choux puffing! Well, I followed the technical advice in the book and got my puffs right the first time! Of course, my cracker wasn't as fine as Lauren's, but she reassured me that I needed strong arms and that she had to keep a few secrets! 

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For about thirty choux, you'll need :

for the choux pastry : 

  • - 250ml water
  • - 250ml milk 
  • - 10g caster sugar
  • - 10g salt
  • - 175g butter
  • - 250g flour
  • - 7 whole eggs

for the cracker :

  • - 40g brown sugar
  • - 30g butter
  • - 40g flour

for the ganache :

  • - 150ml lemon juice
  • - zest of 1/2 lemon
  • - 170g whole eggs (about 3 eggs)
  • - 185g whole sugar
  • - 110g butter
  • - 3 sheets gelatin

and for decoration :

  • - 75g marzipan
  • - 4 to 8 drops lemon-yellow colorant
  • - popping candy such as Peta Zeta
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Let's start with the cracker... In a bowl, roughly mix the sugar with the butter, cut into small cubes. Add the flour all at once and knead to a smooth dough. Divide the dough into two equal parts and place each half in the center of a sheet of parchment paper. Cover with a second sheet, pressing down lightly on the dough. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough as thinly as possible until it almost completely covers the paper. Remove the top sheet and pre-cut discs in the dough with a 3.5cm-diameter cookie cutter: start at one corner of the sheet and repeat, forming regular lines. Set aside in the freezer for 30 minutes, then cut out the cracker disks once the choux have poached. 

For the choux pastry... Pour the water, milk, sugar and salt into a saucepan. Add the butter, cut into small cubes, and bring to the boil, stirring with a spatula until the butter has melted completely. Add the flour all at once and stir continuously for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the spatula. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in half the eggs, previously beaten into an omelette. Pour in the rest of the eggs a little at a time, continuing to stir until you obtain the right texture: draw a line in the dough with your finger, and if it closes after passing through, the dough is a success! 

 Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Line a piping bag with the choux pastry and "poach" your choux into a disk about 4 cm in diameter, spacing them about 5 cm apart. Once you've filled your baking tray, carefully place your cracker disks on top of each choux. Bake for 45 minutes. Even if they look cooked after 40 minutes, be sure to respect the baking time! 

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 For the lemon cream, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. In a saucepan, bring the lemon juice to the boil with the eggs, sugar and lemon zest. Cook for about two minutes, stirring constantly. Drain the gelatine and stir into the mixture. Remove the pan from the heat. Leave to set in the fridge for ten minutes, then add the butter, cut into small cubes. Emulsify the cream with a hand blender for 5 minutes. Refrigerate for 3 hours. 

Pierce a small hole in the bottom of each cabbage using an 8mm plain tip. Attach the tip to a piping bag and fill with lemon cream. Insert the tip into the hole and garnish generously. Repeat for each choux.

Frost the choux with yellow marzipan and sprinkle with popping candy. Store in the fridge and enjoy the same day. Enjoy! 

More choux recipes in book Popelini by Lauren K. !

To read this post in English, click here!

June 15, 2015