Choux Pastry Basics

• Most pastry recipes are liberally furnished with warnings to keep the ingredients cold and not overwork the dough, to avoid developing the flour's tough, chewy gluten. Choux pastry is unique in taking the exact opposite approach, using hot liquids and working the dough extensively to maximize gluten development. When it's baked, the dough puffs up dramatically and forms a thin, crisp shell, like an oversized version of a single air bubble in bread dough.

Choux Pastry Technique

• The process for making choux pastry is simple, if unconventional. The liquid -- either water or milk -- must be brought to a full rolling boil, along with the specified amount of butter. This disperses the butter in fine droplets through the liquid, so it mixes evenly into the dough. Then the flour is added all at once, and mixed vigorously over heat to form gluten and cook out some of the liquid. Finally, when the dough has cooled to barely warm, you beat in eggs, one at a time, until it forms a stiff batter or loose dough, barely able to hold its shape when piped onto a sheet.

Storing Choux Pastry

• Choux pastry's unusual texture means making it ahead is problematic. If you cover your bowl of dough and put it in the refrigerator overnight, it will set into a solid lump of stodge and become unusable. Instead, the dough must be piped for individual cream puffs or eclairs, then frozen on a sheet pan quickly before they dry out and form a skin. Once frozen, you can bag them in airtight packages and use them as needed over a period of up to two months. They can be baked right from the freezer, usually taking just an extra few minutes to reach their signature light and crisp texture.

Storing Baked Pastries

• If you want to prepare choux pastry a day ahead, it's often more convenient and practical to just bake the individual pastries. They need 10 to 15 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit to puff and reach their full size, then up to a half-hour at 350 F or 375 F to finish crisping and drying out. Cool the pastries slowly, away from any cold drafts, then store them overnight in an airtight container. They can be re-crisped for a few minutes in a warm oven the next day, or simply filled and used right out of the container. Baked pastries freeze beautifully for two to four months, but they're fragile and should be stored in rigid containers to avoid damage in the freezer.