Apricot, Honey & White Chocolate Choux Buns

These are like little morsels of sunshine. Zingy Apricot compote and smooth, vanilla-speckled honey and white chocolate whipped ganache. These flavours coupled with a crunchy choux bun make for a perfect bite.

This kind of patisserie is so achievable at home. Choux pastry may take some practice to get right, but I really don’t think its very hard to make! There are quite a few elements to these so I’ve split the recipes up into two days. This way, the second day is just for baking the choux buns and assembling them. Feel free to switch up the flavours if you have some jam or compote hanging around that you’d rather use. They’re really versatile. Baked choux buns are also great to stash in the freezer, so you can whip up a filling and serve them whenever you want something a little bit fancy.

Ingredients

Choux Pastry:
110g whole milk
110g water
100g unsalted butter
3g salt
5g caster sugar
125g strong flour
approx. 200g eggs (4 medium eggs)

Craquelin topping:
110g unsalted butter, softened
140g demerara sugar
140g plain flour

Honey white choc whipped ganache (fills 10 choux):
300ml double cream
70g good-quality white chocolate
1/4 of a vanilla pod
15g honey

Apricot compote:
200g apricot puree (easily purchased online)
25g caster sugar
120g dried apricots, roughly chopped

Edible violas, to garnish (optional)

Please read before starting: this recipe doesn’t make exact quantities. The choux and craquelin recipes makes approx. 55 choux as it’s difficult to make a smaller quantity. I would recommend piping what you need and then piping and freezing any leftover choux pastry for later. The craquelin topping can also be cut and re-rolled to be stored in the freezer. To use: Place the frozen choux pastry onto a tray ready to bake. Leave to defrost for 20 minutes at room temperature before topping with craquelin and baking as normal. I also freeze any leftover apricot compote, or its lovely on yoghurt for breakfast!

Method

The day before:
For the craquelin - Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix to a paste. Place onto a large piece of parchment paper and press another piece of parchment of the same size over the top. Using a rolling pin, roll the craquelin between the parchment just a little thinner than a £1 coin. Lift onto a tray and refrigerate until needed. This can keep in the fridge up to 5 days.

For the apricot compote - Place the apricot puree and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Place the dried apricots into a blender and pour over the hot puree. Blend the compote until smooth. Transfer it into a container, cover the surface with clingfilm and leave to cool at room temperature. Place into the fridge until cold. This can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

For the honey white chocolate whipped ganache - Place the cream and honey into a saucepan. Split the vanilla pod and scrap out the seeds. Place the seeds and the split vanilla pod into the cream. Warm the cream over low heat until simmering. Meanwhile, put the white chocolate into a bowl. Once simmering, pour the hot cream over the white chocolate and leave for 1 minute to let the chocolate melt. Stir the ganache until the white chocolate is fully incorporated into the cream. Lay clingfilm over the surface and place into the fridge for at least 12 hours. This can be kept in the fridge for 3 days.

The day of assembly:

For the choux - Prepare a baking tray lined with a silicone baking mat or baking paper. You can pipe freehand or you can use a 4cm cutter as a guide by tracing it on the underside of the baking parchment.

Place the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter into a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts to boil. Dump all of the flour in at once and continue to stir over medium-low heat until you have a paste. Cook, while beating fairly quickly with your spoon, for a further 2-3 minutes to ensure the flour is cooked out and the choux pastry isn’t sticking to the pan. Take the pan off the heat and tip the paste into a heatproof bowl. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a separate bowl, whisk your eggs together. Gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time, until you have a glossy paste that falls in a ‘V’ shape from your spoon. You may not need all the egg, or a little more, depending on how much you cooked out the pastry. Place the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a No. 9 plain nozzle.

Pre-heat your oven to 200°C. Pipe 10 choux buns, leaving at least 2 inches in between. The remainder can be piped and frozen as per the note at the beginning of this recipe. Take the craquelin from the fridge and peel off the top baking paper. Flip it over, keeping the peeled baking paper underneath and peel off the second baking paper. Using a 5cm cutter, cut discs of craquelin and place on top of each choux bun. You’ll need to work fairly quickly so the topping doesn’t soften too much. Any excess can be squashed back together, re-rolled, cut and frozen.

Put the choux buns into the oven for 15 minutes before reducing the temperature to 170°C for 10 minutes. Check the choux pastry periodically between the last 10 minutes to ensure they’re not catching. They should be golden brown and firm to the touch. Don’t open the oven until you think they’re done, as the choux buns will deflate. Leave to cool at room temperature before filling.

To finish: Take the whipped ganache out of the fridge and pour into a bowl. Remove the vanilla pod and whisk until it reaches soft peaks. Place the ganache and the compote into two piping bags and snip off the ends so you have a medium sized hole. Take each choux bun and poke a small hole in the bottom with the tip of a sharp knife. Fill it with a little apricot compote and then finish filling with whipped ganache. Finish with decorative piping using the whipped ganache, compote and edible viola flowers.

Best enjoyed on the day they’re made, but can be kept in the fridge for 3 days (they’ll go softer the longer they’re left in the fridge.)