Chick Pea Choux Pastry

I made a half a recipe of this as a trial run, and when it was successful made a full recipe. I did learn a few things in making these twice. The first time I was worried there was not enough flour to make the batter the right consistency, and added a little more. The result was sturdy puffs that rose, but not a lot, and tasted very robust, almost cheesy. They were quite good and I was encouraged to try again.

The second time I relaxed and trusted the original formula (this is a bog-standard choux recipe, just using chick pea flour instead of wheat flour) and also beat them for a bit longer. (You will need an electric mixer to make these, hand beating will not be sufficient.) The results were much lighter and puffier, and not quite so intense, although they are still sturdier and richer flavoured than wheat-based puffs. We thought they were really delicious.

My original impression was that these would be best in savoury applications. I filled these ones with goat cheese thinned with a little cream, and Turkish Walnut & Red Pepper Paté, thinned with enough of the soaking water to make it fairly soft. The paté in particular was amazing with these puffs. Because these are so rich I would tend to stick to vegetarian fillings, although I would avoid things made with beans. Hummus would be right out - what a lot of chick peas. Guacamole would be good, or this Herbed Cream Cheese Dip. And I'm re-thinking my original idea that they should be savoury only. They'd need a sweet filling with some robustness that wouldn't fight with the chick peas, but some things might work well. A pumpkin or maple cream might be good, or maybe the type of cheese filling that gets put in cannoli.

I used a 2 ounce (I think) disher to scoop them out, and got 22 of them. I don't think you would want them a lot smaller, or they would be hard to work with, although I'm sure you could eke out a few more than I got. You could make them larger, too - my original experiment would have made 8. At that size they should be formed like eclairs, long and thin. One of those with a good filling and salad would be pretty close to a meal, I would think.

8 to 24 puffs
45 minutes - 15 minutes prep time

1 cup filtered water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chick pea flour
4 large eggs

Put the water, butter, and salt into a 2 quart pot with good high sides, and bring to a boil. Dump in the flour, and immediately start beating it in with an electric mixer until thick, about 2 minutes. It is apt to form lumps, so the sooner you get beating it the better, and a spoon or whisk will not do. Remove the pot from the heat and continue to beat the mixture until cooled to warm. 

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Beat the eggs into the batter, one at a time, until thick and glossy – beat for 3 or 4 minutes. Dish out the batter onto parchment, leaving 2 or 3 inches clear between each puff. Bake them at 400°F for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325°F and bake them for a further 15 minutes. 

Remove them from the oven and let them cool on the pans, but on a rack. Slice off the top third and add whatever filling you like, then replace the top. Serve shortly - depending on the filling, it may make them soggy if they sit too long.




Last year at this time I made Lorenzo's Pastel de Pescado. 

Posted in: Ontario Food