Eggless Pate Choux Pastry and Eggless Chocolate Mousse

This months challenge at Gayatri's Baking Eggless Group is Pate Choux Pastry and Chocolate Mouse. Choux pastry, or pâte à choux (pronounced : [pat a su] is a light pastry dough used to make perfiteroles, croquembouches, eclairs, Frenchcrullers, beignets and gougeres. It contains only butter, water/ milk, flour and egg.

When baking pate a choux, the choux is baked first at high temperature, and then finished at low temperature. The reason for this is that choux pastry is leavened with steam, rather than a chemical leavening agent like baking soda or baking powder, or a biological leavening agent like yeast. The high initial temp in baking choux is what generated the steam to cause it to rise. The word choux in French means cabbage and choux pastry gets its name from the fact that the little balls of choux paste used to make cream puffs resembles little cabbage.

 I have earlier tried baking egg-less cakes, brownies, cookies, souffle and even biscuits but never thought would bake eggless choux pastry. This months challenge inspired to make a go for trying it without using ener-g egg replacer. It was a marathon job to get the perfect choux pastry as my experiments with egg substitutes but all in vein was not able to get the satisfying result and my luck today i got flaxseed and thought of trying it and the result was very good. 

The other set back was of the recipe proportion of water/ milk in the recipe called for equal proportion it did not work for me as my pastry was too dry and after couple of various tries the best proportion worked for me was 2: 1 i.e 2 parts liquid and 1 part flour and 3:1 for baking powder and baking soda gave me the perfect result. 

Pate a Chox can be filled just as eclairs or you can stuff the cream/ mouse or can serve with mousse. I love pate a choux with chocolate icing.

This recipe makes 12 cream puffs.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup salted butter (55 gms)

1/2 cup All purpose flour/ white flour

1/4 +1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp flax seed powder

3 tbsp warm water

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 400 c, line baking sheet with parchment / baking paper.
2. Wishk flax seed powder and warm water.
3. In a sauce pan combine water, milk, butter and sugar to boil over medium heat
4. Seive APF, baking powder and soda well.
5. Add flour and stir well, cook till it leaves sides of the pan.
6. Remove from heat, let it cool. Add flax seed mixture in two parts.
7. Whisk well till it forms sticky paste.
8. Transfer the dough to pastry bag, and pipe out leaving 1" gap between two. Mix belted butter and milk for the wash.
   
9. Bake for 15 mins ( full mark in cooking range) on high 400 c and then at 300 c for 8 mins. turn off the oven and prop the oven door open with the handle of wooden spoon.
10. After 45 mins transfer the puffs on to cooling rack.
11. When ready to serve pip in some cream, top with mouse.

Eggless Chocolate Mousse:

A mousse (French 'foam'/mu:s/) is a prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. It can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick depending on preparation techniques. A Mousse may be sweet or savory. Dessert mousse are typically made with whipped egg white and flavoured with chocolate or fresh fruit.

Basically eggless mousse calls for gelatin but in Nigeria it is very difficult to get vegetarian gelatin so experimented with heavy whipping cream, chocolate and butter. The result was wonderful.

Ingredients:

80 gms Dark Chocolate (70%)

40 gms Milk Chocolate

40 gms butter

1/2 cup heavy whipped cream

Method:

1. Temper chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds on high.
2. Again repeat if chocolate has not melted.
3. Stir well to cool the chocolate.
4. Whip the cream to stiff peaks.
5. Fold in cream gently taking care not deflate.
   
6. Set in small bowls or shot glass and set for hour or two.

Topping for mousse can vary from whipped cream, chopped fruit.

Please feel free to share your views and comments for the same.