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Summer Berries & Lemon Cream Choux Recipe

summer berries choux recipe

Summer has arrived and what could be more fitting than a dessert bursting with lemon cream and red berries, nestled inside of a light choux pastry.

The refreshing flavour of lemon paired with fresh red berries is sure to hit the mark on a hot Summer’s day.

Chef's tip: If you are unable to find fromage blanc, substitute it for full-fat cream cheese.

Makes 20 choux pastries.
Preparation time: , plus proving
Cooking time:
Total time:

Ingredients

Choux pastry
  • 50 g butter
  • 120 ml water (or 60 ml / 60 ml whole milk)
  • 7 g caster sugar
  • 2 g salt
  • 75 g plain flour, sifted
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 250 g pearl sugar nibs
Lemon cream
  • 20 ml lemon juice
  • 3 g lemon peel
  • 1 g agar-agar
  • 60 g caster sugar
  • 200 g fromage blanc
  • 200 ml double cream, whipped
Red berry coulis
  • 200 g red berries (we use a mixture of raspberries and strawberries)
  • 250 g caster sugar
Red berries
  • 125 g raspberries
  • 250 g strawberries, halved
Decoration
  • pared zest of 1 lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Lightly butter a baking sheet.

Choux pastry

In a saucepan heat the butter, water (and milk, if using), sugar and salt until the butter has melted. Remove the batter from the heat and add the flour.

Mix with a wooden spoon to make a smooth paste. Place the dough back on the heat to dry, stirring vigorously until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the dough to a bowl and leave to cool for five minutes.

Beat in the eggs gradually.

Pipe 4 - 5 cm diameter rounds onto the baking sheet, sprinkle over the pearl sugar nibs. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes without opening the oven door. Lower the oven temperature to 165°C and, leaving the oven door slightly open, continue cooking for 15 more minutes or until the choux pastry is lightly golden.

Check that the choux are cooked by tapping them: if they sound hollow, they are cooked. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Lemon cream

Heat the lemon juice, peel, agar-agar and sugar together. Combine with the fromage blanc (or cream cheese). Fold in the whipped cream and transfer to a piping bag with a plain pastry tip (nozzle).

Red berry coulis

Combine the red berries and sugar. Blend to a purée and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

Assembly

Slice the top off each of the choux to obtain a hat. Fill each choux with lemon cream and arrange the strawberry halves and raspberries on top. Position the hat on top.

Place a filled choux pastry on a plate and decorate with finely grated lemon peel. Draw a line of red berry coulis on the plate and serve the remainder in a sauce boat.

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