Wade Murphy's chocolate choux buns: Today

Method

Pastry Cream:

1. Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl, then whisk in the cornflour and set aside.
2. Place the milk in a pot over a medium heat and bring to a simmer.
3. Once the milk comes to a boil slowly pour over the egg mix, whisking constantly.
4. Once mixed, pour back into the pot and place over a low heat. Cook for about 5 minutes constantly whisking to make sure it doesn't stick or burn at the bottom.
5. This will also avoid any lumps forming. Remove from the heat and add the dark chocolate. Mix until you have a smooth dark cream. Pour into a clean bowl or container and place cling film over the top. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours or even overnight.

Craqueliun Topping:

1. Mix the flour and cocoa powder together and set aside. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix together.
2. Add the flour and cocoa powder and press together until it reaches a thick paste consistency.
3. Place between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and using a rolling pin roll into a very thin layer, about 2 to 3 mm thick.
4. Place the sheet into the freezer for at least 45 minutes until frozen.
5. Once frozen, you can cut into discs that are slightly bigger than what your piped buns will be before cooking. Leave in the freezer until needed.

Chocolate Choux Pastry:

1. Place the water, sugar, butter and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low to medium heat.
2. Once the butter has melted and the liquid just starts to simmer, remove from the heat and add the flour and cocoa powder. using a wooden spoon mix together until you form a thick paste. Return to the stove and over a low heat constantly mix the dough for about 2 minutes.
3. At this stage the dough should cause a slight film at the base of the pan. Remove from the heat and place into a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Ideally before you add your eggs the dough should be between 52 and 55oC.
4. Once cool turn the mixer to a medium speed. Firstly add a couple of tablespoons of the eggs and allow to mix.
5. Continue to slowly add the eggs in stages until you reach dropping consistency i.e. if you turn off the machine and lift up the paddle the dough should slowly drop from the paddle and then hold its shape slightly.
6. You may have a little egg left over depending on the size of the eggs, that’s ok.
7. Remove the Choux from the bowl and place into a piping bag with a round nozzle.

Baking and Finishing:

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC fan and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pipe rounds of the Choux pastry onto the sheets.
3. These should be around 2.5cm tall and about 4cm in width.
4. Make sure you leave plenty of space between each as they will rise and spread out. Take the craquelin rounds out of the freezer and carefully place one on top of each bun.
5. Place the tray into the preheated oven and cook for 35 minutes until risen into small buns.
6. Turn the oven off and leave to sit for another 30 mins to help dry the pastry out. I’ve seen people place a wooden spoon to keep the door slightly open too at this stage.
7. After that time remove from the oven and place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
8. Remove the pastry cream from the fridge, put it into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, fill your cooled buns with the cream and serve. You can fill from the bottom or slice the top off, fill with the cream and place the top back on.