Michelle Darmody: How to bake beautiful white chocolate choux buns
Not all white chocolate is created equal. If you can, choose a white chocolate with a high cocoa content which will give you a smoother ganache and be less sweet
These white chocolate choux buns are beautiful when filled and iced. You can top them with freeze-dried raspberries, or a sprinkling of edible rose petals, and some chopped pistachio nuts work nicely if added before the ganache sets. The bitterness of raspberry cuts nicely through the sweetness of the white chocolate and also gives the ganache a beautiful pink hue.
Not all white chocolate is created equal. If you can, choose a white chocolate with a high cocoa content which will give you a smoother ganache and be less sweet, as cocoa is usually replaced with sugar. White chocolate is made in a similar way to regular chocolate by mixing cocoa butter and milk solids with sugar. It gets its pale, white, ivory colour because it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa, or cocoa solids, which give the other variations their dark appearance. There is, in fact, a question on whether it should be called chocolate at all. Legally, it is, as it is derived from the cacao bean, but technically, it can be argued that it is a confection or candy rather than a traditional form of chocolate.
The consistency of the ganache allows for lots of experimentation and its white colour makes it popular in patisserie because it can quite easily be coloured with fruit. It is pink from raspberry in this case, but can be purple from blackberry, or a beautiful golden from mango.
These white chocolate choux buns are beautiful when filled and iced. You can top them with freeze-dried raspberries, or a sprinkling of edible rose petals, and some chopped pistachio nuts work nicely if added before the ganache sets. Servings Preparation Time Cooking Time Total Time Course Ingredients 50g butter 10g golden caster sugar 150mls water 75g strong flour, sieved 1 large egg, lightly beaten for the icing: 100mls cream 125g white chocolate, broken into small even-sized pieces 35g raspberry puree (no seeds) freeze-dried raspberries to decorate for the filling: 200mls cream, whipped to stiff peaks 1 small handful fresh raspberries - optional Method Line a large flat baking tray with parchment. Preheat your oven to 220 ºC/gas mark 7. Add the butter, sugar and water into a saucepan and gently heat until all the ingredients are melted together. Bring the mixture to the boil. Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in the flour. Stir vigorously until combined and the dough starts to come away from the sides of the saucepan. If it is too runny place over a very low heat while stirring and it will begin to firm up quickly. Leave the mixture to cool for five minutes (this is important) then add in the egg and beat until you have a glossy mixture that forms a firm dough. Add your dough to a large piping bag with a round nozzle. Splash some water onto the parchment on your baking tray. Pipe 12 balls of dough on each tray leaving room for them to rise. To ensure a nice round bun, wet your finger with some warm water and gently press the spike or tip from the piping bag down before placing them into the oven. Bake in the centre of your oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and make a small slit in each roll as you are placing them onto a wire rack to cool. Heat the cream for the icing until it is shivering. Stir the white chocolate and the raspberry puree until combined. Set aside to cool. Once it has started to firm up, whisk it until it is smooth and light, then allow it to cool completely. Fill a piping bag with the whipped cream and insert to nozzle into the slit in each bun. Pipe in the cream until each ball is full. Spoon the pink ganache over each bun. Sprinkle with freeze dried raspberries and serve.White Chocolate Choux Buns
You will need enough egg to ensure the dough is stiff yet shiny. I find two large eggs sufficient. If you do not have large egg, three medium eggs should suffice. You can use the remaining egg to make an egg wash to get a shine on the top of buns.
If your buns turn out flat, it is usually because the egg has been added to the flour mixture too soon, before the mixture has had a chance to cool sufficiently. It is best to wait the five minutes before adding.
It is important to fully heat your oven as the high temperature helps to form a strong shell quickly and prevents the inside of the buns from softening which can cause collapse. Splashing the trays with water helps to create steam in your oven which also helps get a good rise.
If the buns do collapse, don't worry too much, they will puff up again when the cream is piped into them.
If you feel that the inside of the buns is sticky when you are making the slit in them, you can place them back into a warm oven. Turn the heat off and allow them to dry out for about ten minutes.
When whisking the white chocolate ganache, whisk gently, and as soon as it thickens, stop the whisking. Whisking too much will leave it grainy. I usually do this by hand so I can get a close eye on it as it thickens.
To make the raspberry puree, place 150g of raspberries (fresh or frozen) with a half a teaspoon of lemon juice and one tablespoon of icing sugar for 10 minutes until soft and jam-like. Blitz until smooth, then strain through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and get a thick, puree. If you have access to seedless raspberry jam, you can use that instead.
You can freeze the unfilled buns. When defrosting, place them on a wire rack to help prevent them from becoming soggy. You can crisp them up in a hot oven for just under ten minutes. If you decide to do this, allow them to cool completely before filling.
Once filled it is best to eat the buns that day or the next.
You can use the same ganache but add lemon curd in place of the raspberry puree. If you like, you can also add a spoonful of curd inside the bun with the whipped cream.
You do not have to coat these buns in ganache or icing, but can leave them fresh faced and fill them with fresh or stewed fruit and cream.
For this version, pipe elongated shapes rather than little balls. They may take an extra five or ten minutes to bake depending how large you would like them. I fill these with a simple whipped cream and top them with chocolate sauce. To make the sauce gently melt a half a tablespoon of cocoa powder with 10g caster sugar and one and a half tablespoons of warm water. Take them off the heat and stir in 85g of icing sugar. Set the chocolate mixture aside and whip 25ml of cream to stiff peaks. Allow the mixture to cool for 20 minutes, then fold in the whipped cream.
