Choux Pastry is the foundation for so many delicious pastries, including one of my favorites – gougères.  The key to making this light pastry dough well is to measure extremely accurately.

Makes 25 3-inch Cream Puffs (About 1 ½ inches before baking)

Ingredients
1 cup Flour
1 cup Water
¾ tsp. Salt
½ cup Unsalted Butter
4-5 eggs

Directions
1. Sift the flour onto a piece of wax paper. In a saucepan, heat the water, salt, and butter until the butter is melted, then bring to a boil and take from the heat. NOTE: Prolonged boiling evaporates the water and changes the proportions of the dough. As soon as the pan is taken from the heat add all the flour at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spatula for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the pan to form a ball. Beat ½ – 1 minute over low heat to dry the mixture.

2. Set aside one egg and beat it in a bowl. With a wooden spatula, beat the remaining eggs into the dough, one by one, beating thoroughly after each addition. Beat enough of the reserved egg into the dough to make a mixture that is very shiny and just falls from the spoon. NOTE: All reserved egg may not be needed; if too much is added, the dough cannot be shaped.

Choux pastry can be stored up to 8 hours. Rub the surface with butter while the dough is still warm. When cool, cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. However, the dough puffs better if used immediately.