Lemongrass Petite Choux
Yield: 1 Batch
Allergens: Contains Dairy & Gluten
Significance of the Dish
Lemongrass is an extremely versatile ingredient. In Sri Lankan cuisine, lemongrass is used in a variety of different dishes, and when used, it brings a delightful citrusy flavor. The fragrance is also unforgettable. It is most likely so widely used in Sri Lankan cuisine since the ingredient is native to the island, as well as to South India, Thailand, and Myanmar. When I think about recipes that I know of from these places, most of them tend to use lemongrass in a savory form.
Today I want to highlight the unique flavor in a pastry. These lemongrass petite choux are a mix of South Asian flavor and French pastry. The choux pastry serves as a crunchy sweet vessel for the soft and smooth lemongrass pastry cream filling.
Ingredients
For the Choux
- Milk (100ml)
- Water (100ml)
- Salt (1g)
- Sugar (4g)
- Butter (80g), unsalted
- All-purpose flour (120g)
- Eggs (150g / 3 large units)
For the Craquelin
- All-purpose flour (50g)
- Brown sugar (50g)
- Unsalted butter (50g)
- Salt (1g)
For the Pastry Cream
- Lemongrass stems (3-4 units)
- Milk (480ml)
- Sugar (35g)
- Cornstarch (30g)
- White chocolate (75g)
- Egg yolks (80g / 4 large units)
- Unsalted butter (45g)
Methods & Procedures
For the Craquelin
Combine — Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a spatula until a homogeneous paste forms.
Roll — Place the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out to 2mm thick.
Freeze — Freeze the dough for 20 minutes. Once frozen, release the dough from the parchment paper from both sides before using.
For the Choux
Preheat — Preheat oven to 400°F; use convection function if you have one available.
Boil liquids — In a pot, combine the milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter and bring the ingredients to a boil. Make sure the butter has melted completely before it comes to a boil; you don’t want to have any butter lumps.
Add flour — Once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the flour. Mix with a spatula until the dough clumps together.
Cool and mix — Let the choux dough cool to room temperature before mixing in your eggs. If the dough is too warm, the eggs might cook and your choux will not rise properly. Mix the eggs in with a spatula or if you are using a stand mixer, you can use the paddle attachment.
Pipe — Once the eggs have been incorporated and the choux dough is completely smooth, transfer the dough to a piping bag lined with a circle tip.
Prepare tray — Take a 5cm ring cutter and mark a piece of parchment paper with the ring to use as a guide for piping the choux. Make sure to place the parchment paper upside down on the tray to avoid the ink getting on the choux. Pipe the choux onto trays lined with the marked parchment paper.
Add Craquelin — Using the same circle cutter you used to mark the parchment paper, cut out circles from the craquelin dough. Place the craquelin disk on top of the piped choux.
Bake — Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325°F and continue baking for another 15–20 minutes or until dried out on the inside and hollow. Let the choux pastry cool down on a cooling rack before filling.
For the Pastry Cream
Infuse milk — Start by chopping the lemongrass into small pieces. Pour the milk into a pot along with the lemongrass and bring to 85°C. Turn the heat off and cover the pot with some plastic wrap to help infuse the flavor of the lemongrass into the milk.
Cool — Let the milk cool down to room temperature. You can also do this step the night before to let the lemongrass infuse for longer.
Blanch yolks — Separate the egg whites and blanch the egg yolks and the sugar together. Mix in the cornstarch.
Cook cream — Pour milk over the egg mixture using a strainer to remove the lemongrass. Place everything in a pot and bring it to a boil whilst continuously whisking. Once the pastry cream thickens up, turn the heat off.
Finish — Wait for the mixture to cool for a few minutes before mixing in the butter and chocolate. Once the pastry cream has cooled down to room temperature, transfer it to a piping bag.
Construction
Open — Use a small paring knife to prick a small hole in the bottom of the choux and twist to make an opening.
Fill — Pipe the pastry cream into the choux in a circular motion so that the pastry cream fills into all the nooks of the choux. The choux pastry should feel heavier if filled properly.
Garnish — Dust the top of the choux with some icing sugar if desired.
Variations
Instead of using the craquelin, you could forgo it for a more traditional egg wash. 15ml of milk to 1 egg makes a good egg wash for petite choux. This will allow you to make a glaze for the choux or dip them in a caramel instead of the craquelin.
Storage and Reheating
Can be kept in the fridge for 2–3 days.
Co-founder of Snout & Seek. Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Arnold's passion for food stems from both his Dutch and Sri Lankan roots. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa, Arnold's career in the culinary industry has brought him from the Netherlands to Canada, where he now teaches at a cooking school.
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