Choux pastry or pate a choux is among the simplest types of pastry. It's also one of the most versatile types whereas it can be used to produce an assortment of desserts. Previously, we covered one such dessert in the form of profiteroles; choux pastry piped and baked into golden balls. Today's recipe will focus on beignets which are like profiteroles but are deep fried in oil.
Like choux pastry, Beignets are of French origin but have longed assimilated in many cultures. They are especially popular in Creole cuisine and are usually served for breakfast.
As stated before, what makes choux pastry simple is that it doesn't need to be rolled or shaped like sturdy pastry since it's more like a batter that's prepared over a stove. It gets simpler with this formula for the batter: 1:2:2:1 of flour to milk to eggs to butter.
Once the choux pastry is prepared, its transfer to a deep fryer or saucepot filled with hot oil in tablespoons and deep fried until they form ball-like pastry that's golden with seams. The beignets are then coated in powdered sugar, glaze or icing. This recipe is very easy to follow and will produce excellent beignets to enjoy.
The recipe
Directions:
- 1 cup milk
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs
- Shortening for frying
- Powdered sugar for topping
Ingredients:
- Melt the butter in a sauce pot over medium heat. Stir in the milk, salt, and sugar with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil.
- Remove the saucepot from the heat and stir in the flour. Return the saucepot over the heat and beat the mixture until it starts to pull away from the sides of the pot and leaves a fine film behind.
- Let the dough cool for five minutes, then transfer the dough to a stand mixer or continue to beat with the wooden spoon. Beat in the eggs on at a time, fully incorporating them into the dough. Keep beating until the dough becomes shiny and starts to pull away from the sides of the dough similar to the saucepot but in thicker concentration, completing the choux pastry.
- Refrigerate the choux pastry for at least an hour if not overnight.
- Melt enough shortening in a large pan to fill up two inches over medium heat to 180ºC. Using a tablespoon sized ice cream scoop or spoon, transfer one tablespoon portions of the choux pastry in the pan to fry in batches. Do not fill the pan with too much of the choux pastry or it will take longer to finish. Fry the beignets for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until they turn golden.
- Dry the beignets on paper towels. Serve sprinkled with the powdered sugar.
Serves: 32 beignets
