PASTRY - Chouquettes 3

By Aemelia

Ingredients

• as below:

Details

Adapted from shesimmers.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a heavy-bottomed pot, bring 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 of whole milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 7 tablespoons of butter (cut into 7 pieces) to a gentle boil over medium heat. Once the mixture starts bubbling, add all at once 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour to the milk mixture and stir briskly with a wooden spoon. You want to "cook" the flour mixture for 30-40 seconds. The mixture is ready when the flour is fully incorporated and forms thin crusty film on the bottom of the pot. At this point, immediately take the pot off the heat and start adding eggs to the dough, one by one. (You should have 6 large eggs on hand, though you may only need 5 depending on the humidity in the air or the type of flour you use, etc.) Stir very briskly with a wooden spoon after each egg is added. The first 2 additions will require quite a bit of muscle work, but after that the dough will slowly become a batter, making it easier to stir. After the 5th egg has been fully incorporated, stop to check the status of your batter. Scoop up some batter with the wooden spoon and see if the batter in the bowl detaches itself from the batter on the spoon and slowly folds over itself. If it does, you don't need the 6th egg. If the batter forms a stiff peak instead of folding, you need to add one more egg. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. With two small spoons, drop the batter onto the prepared sheets by teaspoonfuls, leaving 1 1/2 inches of space between each round. You want to have about 18 rounds. At this point, don't worry about symmetry yet. We'll fix that later. Bury 2-3 chocolate chips inside each round and top them with the remaining batter. You should end up with 36 one-inch rounds (which will almost double in size in the oven).