Michel's trio of pistachio, chocolate and fig choux buns! Makes 30-40.
Ingredients
Choux pastry
Crème patissiere
Filling and garnish
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 220℃ fan setting.
Step 2
First, make the choux pastry. Put the water, milk, salt, sugar and butter in a pan over a high heat and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and beat in the sifted flour using a spatula. When the mixture is smooth, put it back on the heat and beat vigorously for two to three minutes on a low to medium heat.
Step 3
Tip this paste into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 1 minute to cool the mixture down a little. Then, beat in the eggs one at a time. Put the paste into a piping bag with a 1.5 cm nozzle, and pipe out buns measuring about 3cm across onto 2 lined baking sheets. Sprinkle 1/3rd of the choux buns with the hazelnut praline.
Step 4
Cook in a preheated oven for 6-7 minutes. Open the door for a few seconds to let out the steam, then turn it down to 180°C for 20 minutes or until the buns are fully cooked. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Step 5
For the crème patissiere, start by pouring the milk into a saucepan. Split the vanilla pods, scrape out the seeds, and add them to the milk along with the pods. Bring to the boil.
Step 6
Whisk the yolks and sugar until pale in a separate bowl, then add the flour. Pour the boiling milk onto the egg yolk mixture and mix well. Pour back into the pan and bring to the boil, stirring well with a whisk as the mixture thickens. When the mixture comes to the boil, take it off the heat and place in a bowl. Cover and chill completely.
Step 7
Divide the crème patisserie into 3 bowls. Add fig jam to one bowl, chocolate spread to the 2nd bowl and pistachio paste to the 3rd bowl. Mix each bowl well until it’s all incorporated. Then divide the whipped cream into the 3 bowls and mix each one well. Fill 3 piping bags with each of the fillings and keep in the fridge until needed.
Step 8
Make a little hole in the base of each choux bun and fill with the flavoured creams.
Step 9
To finish the buns, make a caramel by cooking the 200g sugar over a high heat until it is golden brown.
Step 10
For the pistachio paste-filled buns - carefully dip the round side of 1/3rd of the choux buns into the caramel and then dip each one caramel side down directly into the pistachios. For the fig-filled ones – blow torch the fig slices and garnish the top of each one with a slice of burnt fig. For the chocolate and hazelnut ones – dust the hazelnut praline choux buns with a little cocoa and icing sugar.
