Divine Chocolate Choux Buns...

Divine Chocolate Choux Buns. This is a show stopping recipe from Kooky Bakes, one of London’s favourite bakeries serving up American inspired treats at street food markets across the capital. Perfect for an elegant afternoon tea or celebratory event to wow your guests!

Photo credit: Hilary Moore

Makes approximately 9 Choux Buns

Ingredients:

• Chocolate Crème Patisserie
• 3 large egg yolks
• 65g Fairtrade granulated sugar
• 15g plain flour
• 15g cornflour
• 300ml full fat milk
• 80g Divine 70% Dark Chocolate Baking Bar, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of sea salt
• Cookie Crust
• 45g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 65g Plain flour
• 30g Fairtrade caster sugar
• Pinch salt
• Choux Paste
• 175g Plain flour
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp Fairtrade caster sugar
• 65ml whole milk
• 65ml water
• 65g unsalted butter
• 3 large eggs

You’ll need a piping bag, a ¼ cm plain nozzle, a ½ cm plain nozzle, two baking sheets lined with baking paper and a saucepan for this recipe

Method:

To make the Crème Patisserie:

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until it is just until pale and creamy, it should fall like a ribbon from your whisk. Then whisk in the cornflour and plain flour.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, chocolate and the vanilla extract over a medium heat, stirring until the chocolate has melted. Remove from the heat. Gradually pour the chocolate milk into the egg and sugar mixture, while simultaneously whisking constantly until it is smooth.
3. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over a medium-low heat, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and transfer to a medium sized heatproof bowl. Press a piece of cling film onto the surface of the custard to prevent it from ‘skinning’. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.
4. Crème patisserie can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

To Make the Cookie Crust:

1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork to form a soft dough.
2. Roll the dough out between two sheets of baking paper until it is about the thickness of a 10p coin, then freeze for 5 minutes until it is firm.
3. Remove one piece of baking paper and cut out 10 rounds using a 5cm plain cutter.
4. Place the rounds on to the paper. Knead the trimmings together, re-roll out and repeat until you have 16 rounds.
5. Freeze while preparing the choux paste.

To Make the Choux Buns:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c (Fan) Gas Mark 6. Prepare 2 baking sheets lined with baking paper.
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients, then bring the milk, water and butter slowly to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Once it has come to a boil, remove the pan from heat.
3. Add the flour all at once and beat the mixture together with a wooden spoon to form a dough.
4. Then return the pan to the heat and cook gently for 1 minute, stirring with the wooden spoon to form the mixture into a ball.
5. Remove from the heat and transfer the dough to a food processor fitted with a blade. Turn on the processor, and add one egg at a time, processing the mixture well after each addition until the dough is smooth.
6. Scrape down the mixture in bowl, then mix for 1 minute to ensure it is all evenly combined into a paste – it will be soft but have some structure to it.
7. Place the choux paste in a piping bag fitted with a ½ cm plain nozzle. This can be refrigerated until you need it.
8. Mark 8 x 5 cm circles spaced about 2 inches/5cm apart on each piece of baking paper using a 5cm plain cutter and pencil.
9. Invert the paper and pipe the choux paste into each marked circle to fill.
10. Remove the cookie rounds from the freezer and place one cookie on top of each piped choux.
11. Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until well risen, golden brown and crisp. Allow to cool on a cooling rack at room temperature.
12. The choux can be used the same day or frozen and re-crisped in the oven when needed.

Assembling the buns:

1. Cut or poke a hole in the bottom of each bun – you could use a chopstick or the point of a small knife.
2. Put your chocolate custard into a piping bag fitted with a ¼ cm plain nozzle. Insert the piping tip of your bag into the hole in the bottom of puffs and fill until cream starts to come back out of the hole.
3. Place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat until all puffs are filled.Dust filled puffs with Divine cocoa powder or icing sugar and serve. They are best eaten immediately after being filled but can be kept in fridge for up to 6 hours.

Recipe and recipe photography courtesy of Divine Chocolate.