No. 132

Cream Cake Paste

Pate a Chou

Put into a saucepan half a pint of water, a grain of salt, one ounce of sugar and two ounces of butter; set the saucepan on the fire and when the butter floats, remove the pan from off the range, and incorporate into it a quarter of a pound of fine flour, stir vigorously not to have it the least lumpy, and put it back on to a slow fire to dry until it detaches easily from the bottom, then take it off once more, and mix in a tablespoonful of orange flower-water; four or five minutes later stir in four or five eggs, adding them one at the time; it must now be more consistent than otherwise, and if a little of it should be dropped from the spoon, it must retain its shape and not spread.

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For the Modern Kitchen

This is Ranhofer's base pâte à choux, given as a component rather than a finished dish, so it carries no oven temperature or yield. The proportions are sound and translate directly.

The measuresHalf a pint of water is one cup (240 ml); two ounces of butter is 4 tablespoons; a quarter pound of fine flour is 4 oz by weight, a scant cup scooped and levelled. A "grain of salt" means a pinch, not a literal grain.
The hinge: dry the panadeAfter the flour goes in, the paste must be worked over low heat until it pulls cleanly from the pan bottom and leaves a thin film there, roughly two to three minutes. Underdried paste carries too much water and the choux collapse as they cool.
Let it cool before the eggsRanhofer's "four or five minutes later" gives the paste time to cool, which is what keeps the eggs from scrambling, though he does not say so. Beat the paste a minute off the heat, or spread it in a bowl, until it is warm rather than hot.
Egg count is a target, not a ruleEggs of the period were less standardised and often smaller than today's large. Start with three large eggs, beaten in one at a time, and add the fourth in stages until a spoonful dropped from the spoon holds its shape and does not spread, which is the test Ranhofer gives at the end.
Orange flower waterStill sold in Middle Eastern groceries and baking aisles, though modern bottles vary widely in strength. A teaspoon may be closer to the intended perfume than a full tablespoon of a strong modern bottling; taste the paste and judge.
Baking, which the original omitsPipe and start at 425°F for about 15 minutes to force the steam and lift, then drop to 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes until the shells are dry, firm and deep gold. Do not open the oven during the first stage.
YieldThis batch gives roughly 24 to 30 profiterole-sized shells, or about a dozen éclairs.
SugarOne ounce (2 tablespoons) is a sweetened paste intended for pastry work. Leave it out for savoury applications such as gougères or garnish puffs.

A Little History

Pâte à chou is traditionally said to take its name from the small cabbage — chou — that a baked puff of it resembles. French pastry writing traditionally traces the technique to Italian cooks working in France in the sixteenth century, though that account is more legend than documented record; the paste settled into something like its modern form in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, associated with pastry chefs such as Jean Avice and Carême. Charles Ranhofer, chef of Delmonico's in New York, placed it here among the "Elementary Methods" of The Epicurean (1894) because it is a foundation rather than a dish: the same paste becomes profiteroles, éclairs, croquembouche, beignets soufflés and the tiny garnish puffs dropped into clear soups. The orange flower water is a period marker, a perfume that ran through American and French pastry of the era.