Pastry Doughs: Choux, Puff & Brioche

Choux Pastry

A twice-cooked dough: water, milk, butter and salt are boiled, flour is added and stirred over heat until it dries (dessécher), then eggs are beaten in. In the oven, the moisture turns to steam and puffs it into hollow shells. French: pâte à choux.

Example: éclairs, profiteroles, cream puffs, Paris-Brest, croquembouche, gougères (with cheese), pommes dauphine (with potato).

Chef’s tip: the paste is ready when it falls from the spoon in a thick ‘V’ ribbon; bake without opening the oven door until golden and firm.

Pâte à Choux

Choux pastry: a dough cooked on the stove (water/milk, butter, flour), then beaten with eggs, which puffs in the oven into hollow shells.

Example: éclairs, profiteroles, Paris-Brest, croquembouche, gougères, chouquettes.

Puff Pastry

Laminated dough made by folding a block of butter into a lean dough and giving it repeated turns, creating hundreds of thin layers that puff in the oven as steam lifts them. French: pâte feuilletée. Classic puff gets six single turns (729 layers of butter).

Brioche

A rich French yeast bread made with a high proportion of eggs and butter (up to 50–70% of the flour weight), giving a tender, golden crumb. Classic shapes: brioche à tête (with a topknot) and loaf (Nanterre). Used for toast, French toast, and to wrap foie gras or saucisson (en brioche).