Festive baking: Choux pastry Christmas tree

In the second instalment of my festive baking series, I will attempt to explain how I made [in my opinion] a festive showstopper in the form of a choux pastry Christmas tree!

These small puffs of pastry are filled with a firm chocolate custard and then dipped in white chocolate! Make the custard first so that it has time to chill whilst you make the choux pastry.

Chocolate creme patissiere

FYI this will make a lot. I used some to fill my buns with and then served the rest as chocolate puddings!

Ingredients

• 300ml double cream
• 240ml whole milk
• 30g cocoa powder
• 2 egg yolks and 1 egg
• 100g sugar
• 25g cornflour
• 150g dark chocolate, chopped
• 30g butter

Method

1. Heat the cream and milk in a saucepan until at simmering point
2. Whilst it is being heated, whisk the cocoa powder, eggs, sugar and cornflour in a bowl
3. Slowly pour hot liquid onto the egg mixture whisking constantly to avoid the eggs from cooking
4. Pour the egg/liquid mix back into the saucepan and heat whilst whisking until the mixture thickens
5. After about 5 minutes, the mixture should be the consistency of custard
6. Add the chocolate and stir until completely melted
7. Take saucepan off the heat and add the butter
8. Pour custard into a clean bowl and cover with clingfilm – this has to touch the surface of the custard to prevent it forming a skin [yuk]
9. Leave to cool down and then pop in the fridge for a few hours

Choux pastry

Ingredients

• 100g plain flour
• 85g butter
• 3 eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C and line baking trays with greaseproof paper
2. Sift the flour into a bowl
3. Melt the butter in a pan with 225ml of water
4. Heat until the butter has melted and then bring to the boil
5. Immediately tip the sieved flour into the water and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and comes away from the side of the pan
6. Cool for five minutes
7. If you have a stand mixer, tip the mixture into there and slowly add the beaten egg
8. The mixture should be glossy and just holding its shape – test it by running your finger through to create a trench – if the sides stay in place then the pastry is ready
9. Empty the pastry into a piping bag and snip off a 1cm tip
10. Pipe onto the greaseproof paper small rounds, about 2cm in diameter
11. Bake for 20 minutes, take out of the oven and create a hole in the bottom of each choux pastry bun and then put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes to dry out
12. Leave to cool on a wire rack

Assembly of the choux pastry Christmas tree

You will need

• Cakeboard
• Candy melts or white chocolate
• Green food colouring
• Edible gold shimmer dust
• Sprinkles
• Piping bag and piping nozzle

1. Spoon the creme patisserie into the piping bag, secure at the top and then pipe into the bottom of each choux pastry bun
2. Once the piping has been completed, you can decorate each individual bun
3. I dipped each choux bun into coloured candy melts or white chocolate and dipped them in sprinkles to create a tinsel effect
4. When dry, it is time to assemble the tree!
5. Smear chocolate on the surface of the cakeboard and then build a tower of choux, using chocolate in between to act as glue
6. Top with the star – which was covered in white chocolate and sprayed with edible gold shimmer!

Happy baking!

x

If you enjoyed reading this post, take a look at my first festive bake post of the series here and let me know if you bake any of them over on my Instagram page!