Daring Baker - August 2012 Challenge: Filled Pâte à Choux Swans

Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild!

Hello, it's Daring Baker time again! I was a bit short on this month's challenge, incredible how busy I am while everybody else seems to be on holidays. I enjoy baking pâte à choux, so this was a good excuse to make some.
But I have been making crème patissière and mousseline quite a lot these days, and I was in the mood for something lighter for a change, so my swans are a bit fruity, just like me!

Filled Pâte à Choux Swans

Pâte à Choux
115 gr Butter
240 ml Water
¼ Teaspoon Salt
140 gr all-purpose Flour
4 Large Eggs

Filling
500gr Fromage Blanc
2 Tablespoons of Honey
12 Apricots, diced
2 Teaspoons of Icing Sugar

Directions:

1. Line at least two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper, or grease pans well.
2. Preheat oven to moderately hot 190°C.
3. In a small saucepot, combine butter, water, and salt. Heat over until butter melts, then remove from stove.
4. Add flour all at once and beat, beat, beat the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot.
5. Add one egg, and beat until well combined. Add remaining eggs individually, beating vigorously after each addition. Resulting mixture should be somewhat glossy, very smooth, and somewhat thick.
6. Using a ¼” (6 mm) tip on a pastry bag, pipe out about 36 swan heads. You’re aiming for something between a numeral 2 and a question mark, with a little beak if you’re skilled and/or lucky.
7. Remove the tip from the bag and pipe out 36 swan bodies. These will be about 1.5” (40 mm) long, and about 1” (25 mm) wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other.
8. Bake the heads and bodies until golden and puffy. The heads will be done a few minutes before the bodies, so keep a close eye on the baking process.
9. Remove the pastries to a cooling rack, and let cool completely before filling.

Assembly:

1. Take a swan body and use a very sharp knife to cut off the top 1/3rd to ½.
2. Cut the removed top down the center to make two wings.
3. Make the filling by combining the honey with the fromage blanc
4. Dollop a bit of filling into the body, add some diced apricots, insert head, and then add wings. Sprinkle some icing sugar on the wings.