Sweet
Choux pastry with bananas Foster cream
Crisp, hollow choux buns filled with rum-caramel banana cream — bananas Foster reimagined as a profiterole, with a dark caramel drizzle over the top.
My first ever attempt at choux. The rules everyone repeats turned out to be true: dry the dough out in the pan, add the eggs slowly, and never open the oven.
Method
- 01
Heat the oven to 200°C and line two trays with baking paper. Wipe the paper with a damp cloth — the steam helps the buns rise.
- 02
Put the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil, making sure the butter has melted completely before it boils.
- 03
Take it off the heat, tip in all the flour at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a smooth ball.
- 04
Return to medium heat and keep beating for 2 to 3 minutes to dry the dough out — a floury film should form on the base of the pan. This is the step most people skip, and it is why choux collapses.
- 05
Tip the dough into a bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes, beating occasionally, until it is warm rather than hot.
- 06
Add the beaten egg a little at a time, beating fully between each addition. Stop when the dough falls from the spoon in a slow, glossy V. You may not need all the egg.
- 07
Pipe 5cm mounds onto the trays, well spaced, and flatten any peaks with a wet fingertip.
- 08
Bake at 200°C for 12 minutes, then drop to 180°C for a further 18 to 20 minutes until deep golden and light. Do not open the oven before the 25-minute mark.
- 09
Pierce the base of each bun with a skewer and return them to the switched-off oven, door ajar, for 10 minutes to dry the insides. Cool completely on a rack.
- 10
For the filling: melt the butter with the brown sugar until it bubbles into caramel, add the bananas and cinnamon and cook for 2 minutes until soft.
- 11
Off the heat, add the rum — flame it if you are feeling theatrical, or simply let it bubble away for a minute. Mash roughly, add a pinch of salt, and cool completely.
- 12
Whip the cream to soft peaks, fold in the mascarpone, then ripple through the cooled banana caramel. Do not overmix; you want streaks.
- 13
Fill the buns from the base with a piping bag, or slice them and spoon it in. Drizzle with any leftover caramel and eat the same day — choux waits for no one.
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