A buttery pastry you can fill with chestnut spread!

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Total: 55 mins
Yield: 30 chouquettes

Ingredients

• 8 fl oz milk
• 4 oz unsalted butter, cubed and at room temp.
• 4.7 oz flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp sea salt 
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper
2. Combine the salt, milk, sugar, and butter in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. When the milk begins to boil (butter should be melted at this point), add the flour and mix in the flour while the saucepan is off heat, so that it absorbs all of the water.
4. When the flour has absorbed the water and it's coming together as a dough, return the pan to the stove (medium heat). Cook the dough for 1 - 3 minutes while you mix and move it around in the pan.
5. Continue until you get a dough that pulls away from the sides of the pan. If you gather all of the dough on one side of the saucepan, you should be able to stick a tablespoon in the dough and it should stay upright, and the texture of the dough should look like mashed potatoes. This is the correct consistency.
6. Transfer the dough into a bowl, and let it cool down slightly for a few minutes.
7. Whisk all the eggs in a separate bowl.
8. Add the vanilla extract to the dough, and then add the eggs in 4 - 5 additions, while mixing each portion into the dough with a handheld mixer or a whisk.
9. Only add enough eggs to get the right consistency (i.e. a dough with a glossy sheen, and a pipeable consistency. You may or may not use up all of the eggs).
10. Place the dough in a large piping bag.
11. Pipe small, circular mounds of choux pastry dough, using a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
12. Flatten the tips of the pastries with a wet finger to prevent burnt tips.
13. Once you’ve piped one baking tray, leave the remaining dough in the pastry bag. Only pipe the choux pastry dough just before you’re ready to bake the second tray (otherwise the dough will form a skin when exposed to air).
14. Generously sprinkle the tops of the piped dough with Swedish pearl sugar. Make sure the sugar pearls are slightly pressed into the dough.
15. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 - 25 minutes (in the center of the oven), or until the choux pastry shells puff up and are golden brown on top. Do not open the oven door, at least until you have reached the 15 - 17 minute mark.
16. When the chouquettes have turned a beautiful, deep golden color, remove them from the oven. Immediately (and carefully) prick each of the pastries with a toothpick, or skewer, or the tip of a small, sharp knife, and let the choux pastry cases cool completely in a draft-free area. The pastries should form a nice crust, with white sugar pearls studded on the surface.
17. Repeat with the remaining dough.
18. When the cases are at room temperature, you can fill them with chestnut spread and serve!