Learn how to make bakery-style chocolate choux au craquelin! My recipe makes airy and perfectly crisp, craquelin-topped choux pastry filled with rich chocolate custard. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Chocolate Choux au Craquelin
Chocolate choux au craquelin may sound like a mouthful, but I promise you’ll enjoy every bite! Today we’re pairing light, crisp choux pastry with rich chocolate pastry cream and a crackly chocolate topping. The result is gourmet, impressive, and will envy anything you’d find in a fancy French bakery (just like my fruit tart and French macarons)!
4 Things to Know About This Recipe
- Texture: Airy choux pastry topped with a crisp craquelin contrasts beautifully with the rich and creamy, pudding-like filling.
- Taste: Rich and indulgent. The choux itself is buttery though not super flavorful, but the craquelin helps with that. The filling does most of the work flavor-wise; it’s chocolatey and custardy with notes of vanilla.
- Time: Set aside some time for this one. The pastry cream and craquelin need to chill before you can use them, the choux shells have a decent bake time (about 40 minutes), and you must wait til they cool completely before you can fill them. Also keep in mind this recipe is not make-ahead friendly (not once assembled) and is best enjoyed the same day.
- Skill level: Not the most beginner friendly recipe, but most people can pull it off if they follow the recipe carefully. If you’re new to baking, watch the video and read through everything first before beginning. Don’t rush the process!
Jump to:
Ingredients
We are making three components today; choux pastry, a pastry cream filling, and a craquelin topping. I won’t go over every ingredient in this section–just a few of the key players.
- Eggs. You will need 9 eggs–it’s a lot, I know! Note that you will have 5 leftover egg whites after making the chocolate pastry cream; you can use these for my white cake recipe, angel food cake, or pavlova.
- Chocolate bar. Use a 60% dark or bittersweet chocolate baking bar and make sure it is finely chopped before you get started.
- Natural cocoa powder. Stick with natural cocoa powder for the best flavor; Dutch cocoa is not the same thing and will have a different result. You can learn more about the two in my post on natural vs. Dutch process cocoa.
- Milk & cream. I prefer and recommend whole milk. Whipping cream or double cream will also work instead of heavy cream.
- Butter. Use unsalted butter as we are adding salt separately. You’ll need this for each component of this recipe; soften the butter for the cream filling and craquelin, but you don’t need to do this for the choux.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
SAM’S TIP: You can substitute both the milk and cream for half and half (so 2 cups total), if you would like.
How to Make Chocolate Choux au Craquelin
Pastry Cream
Before you begin this step, make sure you have all of your ingredients and tools nearby, as pastry cream needs constant attention once it starts cooking. Make sure you don’t walk away during the process and make sure you cook it properly; undercooking will make it runny, but overcooking is actually worse (if the eggs curdle, you will need to start over).
- Step 1: Make the custard. Slowly pour the whisked egg yolks, milk, and cream into the cornstarch and sugar mixture, whisking constantly, until everything is combined and lump-free.
- Step 2: Cook til thickened. Cook over medium heat (don’t increase the heat to speed up the process) until the mixture reaches a thickened pudding-like consistency. You can test to see if it’s done by dipping a spoon in; it should coat the back.
- Step 3: Add the chocolate. Strain the pastry cream through a fine mesh strainer, then stir in the chocolate, butter, and vanilla until smooth. This will need to chill while you prepare your remaining components.
Craquelin
This simple topping adds a lovely crisp texture to the pastry. Craquelin isn’t always chocolate flavored, but it felt right to make a chocolate version today!
- Step 1: Make the dough. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the dry ingredients. The mixture will be crumbly, but it should cling together.
- Step 2: Roll it out. Form the dough into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Roll it between to pieces of parchment until it reaches ⅛” thickness.
- Step 3: Cut into circles. Transfer the parchment to a baking sheet and remove the top layer of paper. Cut the dough into 2″ round circles, removing the scraps and leaving the circles on the sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer til the dough circles are firm, about 30 minutes.
SAM’S TIP: If you find your craquelin dough is too sticky to cut, you can transfer it to the freezer for a few minutes before trying again.
Choux
Choux is a bit different from other doughs in that it actually starts on the stove. This process makes an incredibly airy and light pastry–it’s well worth the effort!
- Step 1: Make the dough. Bring the water, butter, and salt to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the flour. Keep stirring until the mixture begins to form a ball.
- Step 2: Add the eggs. Remove the pan from the heat and keep stirring for another minute or two; this step releases some of the steam from the mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, waiting til each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next. Don’t panic if it looks like things are separating; they will come back together. Mix until everything is velvety smooth.
Assembly
- Step 1: Pipe the choux. Transfer the choux dough to a piping bag and pipe 1.5″ wide by 1″ tall mounds straight down onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Step 2: Add the craquelin. Gently top each mound with a circle of craquelin.
- Step 3: Bake & poke. Keep an eye on your choux while they bake; opening the oven door too soon can cause them to collapse, but if you wait too long they can burn. You want them to be golden and appear dry, especially where any cracks are. Once baked through, pierce each bun halfway through with a sharp knife. This step releases the steam and helps reduce the risk of soggy interiors (which contributes to a more eggy taste). Be careful though–the choux will be hot, so don’t burn yourself. I usually wear a flexible oven mitt or hold the pastry with a towel while I do this step.
- Step 4: Fill & enjoy! Return the choux to the oven (turn it off) for 10 minutes, then remove and let cool completely. Fill each cooled shell with pastry cream through the hole that you pierced, then enjoy!
SAM’S TIP: If your pastry cream is a bit too thick (but not curdled), you can stir in a splash more cream to thin it out to the proper consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
The assembled pastry doesn’t last very long (see below), but you can make the separate components ahead of time if you’d like. You can make the pastry cream filling and craquelin one day (place covered in the fridge), then make the choux and assemble everything the day you plan to enjoy.
Chocolate choux au craquelin are best served the same day they are filled, but they are still quite good the next day too. I don’t recommend keeping them beyond 3 days.
There are quite a few causes for this, including not letting enough steam cook off the dough before adding the eggs, opening the oven too soon, underbaking, and not letting the choux finish drying in the oven.
More French Pastry to Try:
Would you like to see another flavor choux au craquelin? Let me know in the comments below ⬇️
Enjoy!
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Chocolate Choux au Craquelin
Ingredients
Chocolate Pastry Cream
- 1 cup (236 ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (236 ml) heavy cream
- 5 large egg yolks
- ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons (24 g) cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 4 oz (113 g) 60% chocolate finely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter softened and cut into 2 pieces
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Craquelin
- ⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter softened
- ⅓ cup (70 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- ½ cup (62 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ Tablespoons natural cocoa powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Pate a Choux
- 1 cup (236 ml) water
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
Recommended Equipment
- 1A piping tip
- Wilton 9 piping tip
Instructions
Chocolate Pastry Cream
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together milk, cream, and egg yolks until egg yolks are broken up and mixture is thoroughly combined.1 cup (236 ml) whole milk, 1 cup (236 ml) heavy cream, 5 large egg yolks
- In a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt.⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons (24 g) cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon table salt
- While whisking continuously, slowly drizzle egg mixture into the saucepan. Go slowly so you can incorporate all ingredients and eliminate any lumps that might otherwise form.
- Turn stovetop heat to medium and continue whisking constantly until mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency. This may take several minutes, don’t turn up the heat to speed up the process. You can tell it’s done when the whisk leaves trails through the mixture and it coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and pour immediately through a fine mesh strainer into a large, heatproof bowl.
- Immediately add chopped chocolate and butter and stir until melted.4 oz (113 g) 60% chocolate, 2 Tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter
- Stir in vanilla extract, mixture should be completely combined and smooth.1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Allow pastry cream to cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, then place a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the pastry cream to prevent skin from forming. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to chill while you prepare your craquelin.
Craquelin
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until well combined.⅓ cup (75 g) unsalted butter, ⅓ cup (70 g) light brown sugar
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt.½ cup (62 g) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ Tablespoons natural cocoa powder, ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Stir dry mixture into butter mixture until completely combined and you have a crumbly mixture that clings together.
- Use your hands to form dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Place dough between two pieces of parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll out to a ⅛” thickness (this will roll out to roughly 11×9”).
- Place on a baking sheet, remove the top piece of parchment paper, and use a 2” round cutter to cut circles into the dough, leaving the circles on the tray. ( If it is too difficult to cut, you can place it in the freezer for several minutes and then try again). Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
Pate a Choux
- Preheat oven to 400F (200C) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium sized heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine water, butter, and salt. Heat over medium/high heat and bring to a rolling boil.1 cup (236 ml) water, ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon table salt
- Reduce heat to medium/low and add flour, stirring continuously with a spatula until the mixture forms a ball that pulls away from the sides of the pot.1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- Remove from heat and continue stirring for another 1-2 minutes to allow steam to release and the mixture to cool slightly.
- Add eggs one at a time, stirring until each egg is totally incorporated before adding the next. The mixture may look like it’s separating or broken at first, this is normal, just keep mixing until it becomes smooth and velvety.4 large eggs
- Transfer mixture to a piping bag with the end cut off, or fitted with a 1A tip, and pipe onto your prepared baking sheet, making mounds that are 1.5” (4cm) wide by 1” (2.5cm) tall, and spacing at least 1.5” (4cm) apart from each other. When piping you want to pipe straight down, not swirling like you would when applying cupcake icing.
- Remove your craquelin from the freezer and place one cut out circle of craquelin on top of each pastry mound, very gently setting on top.
- Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until pastry appears dry and a light golden brown in color.
- Remove from oven and quickly (and carefully!) use a sharp knife to pierce each puff lower on the side, near the bottom, to release steam. Pierce each halfway through the pastry, then return to the baking sheet. Turn off the oven and return the baking sheet to the oven with the door cracked slightly open for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool completely on baking sheet before proceeding.
Assembly
- Transfer chocolate pastry cream into a large piping bag (I fit mine with a Wilton 9 tip). Once choux pastry has cooled completely, fill each with pastry cream by inserting the piping bag into the hole you pierced with a knife, and slowly fill, dividing pastry cream evenly between all pastries.
Notes
Storing
These are best enjoyed the same day they are filled, as the pastry softens with the addition of the pastry cream. However, you can store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Unfilled baked choux can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, if they become too soft you can pop them in a 300F (150C) oven for 4-7 minutes then cool completely before filling.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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