Raspberry and Pistachio Choux

METHOD

Preheat your oven to 180c/350F/gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Mark a 22cm circle on the reverse of the paper to act as a guide.

Add the water and butter to a saucepan and gently melt together over a low heat. Once the butter has melted turn the heat up and bring to a boil until you see a white, fluffy ring around the edge of the saucepan and then immediately add all the flour in one heap. Remove from the heat and beat well until smooth. Return the pan to the heat to dry it out for a couple of minutes, stirring continuously. Add the choux paste to a mixing bowl and let it cool to luke warm, (38c if you want to be technical), then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined between egg addition. You can use electric beaters. Add the paste to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (or freezer bag with the corner snipped off) and pipe rosettes onto the circular guide on the baking parchment.  Bake for 45 minutes, until golden and puffed. Cool on a wire rack and then slice in half horizontally. 

Whip the cream so it’s quite stiff and then fold through the pistachio paste, custard and icing sugar. Add to a piping bag.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and add to a bowl. Heat the cream until almost boiling and then pour it over the chocolate. Wait a few minutes and then use a fork to make sure its smooth and all the chocolate melted.

Take the top off the choux circle and then pipe the pistachio filling all through it and then add rows of raspberries to both the outer circle and the inner one. Put the lid back on and gently push down. Finish with a generous dusting of icing sugar. 

Serve the pistachio choux with the chocolate sauce and a glass of rose for an afternoon treat.