Eisdiele Capri

If you have been in Napels you know that you’ll find pasta bignè in virtually every pasticceria around there. Nice thing about “pasta bignè” (or “pâte a choux” which is the proper French name for this pastry): it comes along in all kind of sizes, shapes and flavours. Another nice thing: With some practice it’s easy to prepare at home.

The ones I prepared here *yummy for breakfast* are very simple ones, with a Nutella-filling and a simple chocolate fondant.

***
What you’ll need

• 125 ml whole milk
• 125 ml water
• 115 g unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 140 g all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature

Step by step :-).

1 First step is cutting the butter into small cubes and throw it into a pan with water, milk and a little salt and sugar. This mixture is slowly brought to boil. As soon as the butter is melted, take the pan off the heat, incorporate the flour in one go and beat it until it forms a smooth dough.

2 Then, place the pan back over medium heat. Beat the dough is with a wooden spoon and stir it for another 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. It’ll be very soft and smooth.

3 Once it’s ready, move it into a plastic bowl and add the eggs, one at a time. The dough should get thick and soft. It should hold its shape but be pipe-able as well.

4 You can then start piping itto a buttered baking sheet. Using a ziploc bag for piping is fine. If you want to get nice even choux, pipe it from above and don’t press the piping tip against the baking sheet.

5 Next step is the baking: preheat the oven to 200°C, but reduce it to 180°C as soon as you place the baking sheet in the oven. As you do so, sprinkle water over the little balls of dough, then close the oven door and do not open it before the bignè have risen well – approximately, 10 minutes later.

6 At this point open the door slightly and keep it that way. You can use a wooden spoon to keep the door open. Bake the bignè for 10 more minutes or until golden-brown, and dry and firm.

7 Take out from the oven, and quickly pierce the bottom of each bignè using a pointy knife to help the steam escape and not making those bignè all gooey inside.

Allow to cool then store in an airtight container.

***

Just fill in the nutella where you pierced the bignè, easy:-)! Tip: If you like to decorate your bignè with chocolate fondant, simply mix some confectioners sugar, milk and cacao in a pan and heat it slowly.