Crullers
One of the things they like to do in cooking school, at least my cooking school, is force you to do everything by hand. We also often had our classmates demo techniques that we hadn’t learned yet. When we first learned pâte à choux in pastry, I was the one to give the demo. I vividly remember the, “Mix! Mix! Mix!” instructions while I was beating in the eggs into the hot pot so that they didn’t curdle. I stirred so hard I quickly developed a blister on my hand that popped before I finished.
After that, I somehow became designated pâte à choux guy. Especially once I became vocal about how much I loathed it. “Ken! Profiteroles for service! Paris Brest for a banquet! St. Honoré for the reception hall! Swans for the buffet! Croquembouche, just so the class knows what it is!” By the end of the year, I swore I would never make choux pastry again.
That was years ago now and I’m finally over it. Tonight, I decided to make my favorite doughnut as a kid: the cruller. Crullers are so crisp, so light, that it’s hard to feel guilty eating them. This entire recipe of doughnuts deals less caloric damage than a small chain pizza. Not that I’m trying to justify eating one too many of them or anything…
This recipe for pâte à choux can also be baked and is the same base you would need for churros, cream puffs or anything of that nature. The only thing that changes is the shape, cooking method and filling medium.
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon shortening or lard
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3-4 tablespoons whole milk
- Combine water, butter, shortening, sugar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Quickly stir in all of the flour with a wooden spoon until it forms into a ball. Stir for another minute to cook out the floury taste, then transfer to a bowl.
- Allow the dough to cool slightly, then incorporate the eggs, one at a time, using an electric mixer or with your wooden spoon, making sure the dough comes back together after each addition.
- Transfer the prepared dough to a piping bag with a large star tip. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper, then pipe 3-4″ circles of the dough onto them. Put the sheet pans in the freezer and chill for at least an hour so that the circles are possible to pick up.
- Preheat your deep fryer to 350 degrees.
- Carefully remove a circle from the parchment paper and gently drop it into the oil. After a few seconds, give it a little coaxing to float to the top, then add a few more circles, being careful not to crowd. Fry until golden brown, then flip and fry the other side. Drain the excess oil and allow the crullers to cool on paper, to remove excess grease, before icing.
- To prepare the icing, put all the icing sugar into a bowl and add the vanilla. Gradually whisk in enough milk to make a smooth and thick icing. Once the crullers have cooled, dip the tops into the icing and allow them to dry, icing side up, before eating.
For a twist, substitute the milk in the icing for citrus juice, or simply melt a good quality chocolate.