these brought me back.
to saturday morning train rides. to the market in vevey.
'creme vanille' (possibly two of the most important words to learn in french) choux pastry (joy of baking)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
egg wash (one egg, 1/8 tsp of salt)
preheat oven to 400f.
sift together the flour, sugar and salt. set aside.
place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. remove from heat and, with a wooden spoon or spatula, quickly add the flour mixture. return to heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about a minute or two). transfer the dough to your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, and beat on low speed a minute or two to release the steam from the dough. once the dough is lukewarm start adding the lightly beaten eggs and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste. spoon or pipe 12 mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing them a couple of inches apart. beat together the egg and salt for the glaze. With a pastry brush, gently brush the glaze on the tops of the dough.
bake for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350f. bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes or until golden. turn the oven off and, with the oven door slightly open, let the shells dry out for a further 10 - 15 minutes. remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
fill with whipped cream, pastry cream, or ice cream.
