White chocolate and pistachio
pro terole wreath
SERVES 1012 // PREP TIME 1 HR // COOK 1 HR 30 MINS PLUS COOLING, SETTING“Filled with sweet and nutty custard, these profiteroles are
shaped to create an impressive centrepiece for your Christmas
dessert table,” says Lauren Eldridge. Pictured p128.250 gm couverture white
chocolate
Chopped pearl sugar,
crystallised rose petals, mini
silver cachous (see note)
and chopped pistachios,
to serve
CHOUX PASTRY
Oil spray, for greasing
100 gm butter
150 gm (1 cup) plain flour
4 eggs
WHITE CHOCOLATE &
PISTACHIO PASTRY CREAM
75 gm pistachio nuts
¾ tsp grapeseed oil
290 ml milk
3 egg yolks
1½ tbsp cornflour
150 gm couverture white
chocolate, chopped1 For choux pastry, preheat
oven to 210°C. Lightly spray
three oven trays with oil. Bring
butter and 250ml water to the
boil in a saucepan over medium
heat. Add flour and ½ tsp salt,
and stir constantly until dough
pulls away from the side
(1-2 minutes). Transfer to an
electric mixer with the paddle
attachment and beat for 1 minute
to cool slightly. Add eggs one
at a time, beating well after each
addition. Transfer to a piping bag
with a 1cm-round nozzle and
pipe three-quarters of the
mixture onto prepared trays into
2.5cm balls leaving about 4cm
between each. Pipe remaining
mixture into 1.5cm balls, leaving
about 3cm between each. Bake
until deep golden and firmly set
(18-20 minutes). Using the tip
of a small knife, poke a hole into
the base of each choux pu, sit
on sides and return to oven to
dry out (3-5 minutes). Cool on
wire rack. Choux pus can be
kept frozen for up to a month.
2 For pastry cream, preheat
oven to 150°C. Place chocolate
into a heatproof bowl. Roast
pistachios until lightly golden(10 minutes), then place into a
small food processor. Add oil
and blend until a smooth paste
(4-5 minutes). Combine pistachio
paste and milk in a saucepan
and bring to a simmer. Whisk
together egg yolks and
cornflour, then pour over half
of the hot milk, whisk to combine
and then return mixture to
saucepan. Continue to cook,
whisking, until starting to boil
and thickened (1-2 minutes).
Pour hot pistachio mixture over
chocolate and whisk to melt.
Cover and refrigerate until set
(1-2 hours). Transfer to a piping
bag with a 3mm-round nozzle.
3 If choux pus have softened,
heat in oven to 180°C until
crisp (5 minutes), then cool.
Pipe pastry cream through
hole in base until full.
4 Bring a saucepan of water to
boil. Remove from heat, place
white chocolate in a heatproof
bowl over the saucepan (not
touching the water), and stir
until chocolate is half melted.
Remove from saucepan and
continue stirring until melted
(if chocolate firms, return to
steaming water).
5 Arrange larger choux buns
into a 28cm circle then add
another circle of buns inside. Dip
bun tops into melted chocolate
and immediately dip in sugar
pearls, rose nibs, mini silver
cachous or pistachios. Some can
be left with plain chocolate, or
drizzled with chocolate instead.
Repeat with smaller pus and
layer on top, set aside until
chocolate sets and serve.
The profiterole wreath is best
served within a couple of hours.
Note Pearl sugar, crystallised
rose nibs and mini silver
cachous are available from
The Essential Ingredient.
Wine suggestion Thierry
Germain Cep by Cep Coteaux
du Layon Chenin Blanc from
the Loire Valley, France.L
auren Eldridge is a fan of classic Christmas flavours,
such as brandy, heady spices and dried fruit, which you
don’t often have at other times of the year. But what the
executive pastry chef of Melbourne’s Stokehouse Group
is best known for is her contemporary, original take on desserts.
“What I wanted to do with these recipes is to offer some
ways to change things up a bit, to highlight the things I love
that are around at Christmastime, like Australian summer stone
fruit, perhaps even start some new traditions to sit alongside
the pudding and Christmas cake.
“These could all sit together on a dessert table or be taken
individually as a showpiece to someone’s house,” says Eldridge.
“The trifle and the pavlova are familiar but I’ve put a spin on
them so that they are more specific to Christmas.”
Eldridge has added apricots as an ode to stone fruit, and
makes the meringue base of the pavlova with brown sugar for
added richness. And the passionfruit that might typically top
the pavlova? She makes it into an ice-cream to serve on the side.
There are also recipes, such as the traditional Danish
cookie, Brunkager, that are inspired by her time in Europe.
“They’re basically gingerbread but they have a spice mix that
includes cardamom and dark brown sugar, and they always
have chopped almonds in them,” says Eldridge. “In Denmark,
it’s tradition to eat them with filter coffee – for my partner,
it’s a real taste of home.”
Eldridge has also included a recipe that combines two
things that she loves – Portuguese tarts and eggnog. “Eggnog
hasn’t really been an Australian tradition but more people
are getting on board with it,” she says. “It’s all about booze
and spice, and what could be more Christmassy than that?”
In the interests of a stress-free Christmas, the recipes require
a balance of skills from the “no-churn” ice-cream, up to choux
pastry for the profiterole wreath. “I tested all of these at home
with a domestic oven,” she says. “They’ll keep everybody happy.”
Stokehouse, 30 Jacka Blvd, St Kilda, Vic, (03) 9525 5555,
stokehouse.com.au