Omg choux
Courtesan au chocolat! Je t’aime! I knew as soon as I saw these star-making pastries in Wes Anderson’s fantastical, whimsical movie Grand Budapest Hotel that I had to try making them. Plus… I’m pretty pumped about this – it’s an online baking party and you’re invited, as I’m not the only one having an OMG choux moment today! Check out my sweet fellow blogger friends rocking some amazing courtesan au chocolat: Molly’s post on My Name Is Yeh and Renee’s post on Will Frolic For Food! So FUN to see what everyone came up with!
What is courtesan au chocolat?
So what the heck are these cartoonish looking stacks?! Tall, whimsical towers of chocolate ganache-filled choux pastry dunked in the prettiest pastel glazes – I felt like a little kid creating a fantasy land of candy coloured cream puff castles. Biting into the pastry, the sugary vanilla glazed puff was airy and crisp yet it collapsed like a light, chocolate-filled cloud in my mouth. It was my first time making choux and it was pretty much this Grand Budapest Hotel courtesan au chocolat video that propelled me to get baking. Chouxper powers!
Cute details make the puff
I love the cartoon-like, fantastical feel of these – I used a piping bag fitted with a multi-prong star tip filled with pale turquoise buttercream to up the whimsy factor, creating a ruffly drop star on the top of each tower. I then topped the courtesan au chocolate with the cutest-berry shaped candies my friend Amy sent me in the mail, and a light dusting of rainbow sprinkles. They would be equally adorable with a colorful maltball or perfect fresh raspberry perched on top, or washi tape flags in corresponding colours. Serve these courtesan au chocolat on your dessert table for your next party and get ready to blow some minds with these party-making treats.
Courtesan Au Chocolat A La Grand Budapest Hotel
ingredients
Choux pastry puffs
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 larger pinch of sugar
- 4 beaten eggs
Milk chocolate ganache filling
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 3 cups of high quality milk chocolate, I used Lindt brand
Vanilla Cream Glaze
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- 5 teaspoons cream, plus more if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- gel colouring in pink, sky blue and green
Simple Vanilla Buttercream
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon milk
instructions
Make the choux pastry puffs
- Note: you will need three baking sheets, each lined with a piece of parchment paper. You will also need a piping bag fitted with an open circle tip.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a boil.
- Remove from heat. Slowly mix in sifted flour.
- Return to heat, stirring and cook for a minute until dough forms a buttery lump.
- Let cool slightly.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs until combined.
- Stir in the egg mixture into the flour mixture, mixing until combined.
- Using a piping bag fitted with an open circle tip, pipe out the choux dough in three different sizes to form the towers – golf ball sized, walnut sized then quarter sized. Tip: if your piped dots have “tails”, fill a tiny bowl with warm water and dip a clean finger into the bowl and use your finger to press down the “tail.”
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes until puffy and happily browned on the bottom; remove the quarter-sized ones after 20 or so minutes.
- Using a paring knife, cut an “X” slit into the bottom of each puff to allow steam to escape.
Make the ganache!
- In a medium saucepan, heat the cream on medium-low heat until it reaches a low boil.
- Add the chocolate; turn off the heat and let sit for ten minutes untouched.
- Whisk together to form a silky ganache.
- Power chill in the freezer for 30 minutes until ganache thickens enough to pipe into pastry puffs.
- Once puffs are cool and ganache is thick enough fill a piping bag with ganache and pipe into the bottoms of the puffs.
Make the glaze
- Combine all ingredients for the glaze in a medium bowl; whisk together until smooth.
- Pour equal amounts into three smaller bowls and tint each one a different pastel colour.
Make the buttercream
- Combine all ingredients for the buttercream in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Beat on high until fluffy and light. Add a tiny amount of sky blue gel food colouring to tint.
- Fill a piping bag fitted with an open star tip with the buttercream.
Kelly @ Studio DIY
These. Are. AMAZING. I can’t even TAKE IT! I need these in my life. STAT!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
kellllyy thank you so much!! i can totally see you having a BALL making these!!! xoxo
Michelle @ Hummingbird High
!!!!
YOU GUYS ARE ADORABLE.
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
michelle!!! awww! you are adorable too! ^__^
renee shuman
yes yes yeeesss! that gif RULES! Those whole thing rules! *does a choux inspired dance* YAYYY!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
heehee i am so pumped you like my GIF! haha… choux inspired dance!! i’m doin’ a little choux jig right now, too! ^__^
cynthia
These are so fantastic!! You three ladies are too talented — and I loved your comment on Renee’s post, I so agree about the process being laughably hilarious in a lot of ways. I made choux a few weeks back and kept exclaiming “THEY’RE PUFFING” every few minutes like a broken record. Love this so much!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
haha! they’re puffing – yes i was watching mine in the oven and i did a little squeal when i saw them rising too!! aw thanks so much cynthia, i’m such a fan of your beautiful food! xo
cynthia
Ooh, I forgot to say — LOVE your step photos!!! <3<3
danielle @ this picture books life
The photo in process/GIF is too much. This whole post is too much! In the absolute best most wonderful way!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
heehee! thank you so much, danielle! i had a lot of fun making the GIF! ^__^ xo
jan
so cute lyndsay!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
hooray! thanks so much jan! xo
Sara @ Cake Over Steak
This all turned out so well!!! I’m sad I wasn’t able to squeeze this into my crazy hectic life at the moment, but hopefully I can join in on your next blogger partay. !!! xoxo
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
hi sara! aw thank you!! yes, next blogger party once everything is less busy for you! ^__^
Emily
oh these are AMAZING!!! you did such a great job. I love the grand budapest hotel and I’ve been meaning to give these a try but there is no hope that they will turn out at as wonderful as yours! thanks for sharing :-D
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
emily!! no way, i just know you’d make the cutest vintage-touch adorable courtesan au chocolat!! isn’t the movie fantastic??
Nancy @ gottagetbaked
Lyndsay, you are so incredibly talented! Your courtesan au chocolat is simply stunning, as are these photos. I made choux pastry for the first time a few months ago and it was pretty disastrous (no puffing. They were sad ‘n flat). I still ate them though ;)
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
nancy, you are so sweet!! thank you so much. eeks, i was pretty freaked to try the choux, and i gotta say i was surprised it puffed up – i’ve had MANY first time bombs in the kitchen! you should definitely try it again! i bet they were still delicious! :)
Sarah | The Sugar Hit
These pastries? These photos? That GIF?! All killer no filler.
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
sarah!! love it! thank you kindly!!
Kathleen
Lyndsay, OH MY GOODNESS these are beyond words. So adorable, you’re a genius!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
oh geez thank you SO much, kathleen! too sweet! xo
Kate
Hi Lyndsay! I found your blog via my friend (and your friend) Tara Carmichael. So, so gorgeous. I love the Courtesan au chocolat, they remind me of something out of a Dr. Seuss book.
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
hi kate! aw i love that comparison!! thanks for stopping by my blog! :)
Michelle @ MakeMeCake.Me
These are so Alice in Wonderland! I love them!! :) Also, that video was so much fun. That movie is on my must see list!
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
another fantastic reference – these would be SO fun at an alice in wonderland tea party!! thanks for stopping by, michelle! ^__^
lori
Maybe we should have a summer baking afternoon with Christa + sister + wild kids! Or summer backyard picnic with new & old pals….
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
LK yeah!!! we can make these crazy things together!! kid-free though… :) i think backyard summer picnic sounds perfect!! those kiddos are too young to bake just yet… only a couple of weeks ago i had teddy crack his first egg though, it was hilarious! he cracked the whole shell into the bowl and then put his hand in the bowl to play with the egg. ^__^
Janet
Simply fabulous dawling! Fun,fun,fun. I started decorating cakes after 11th grade. Learning to decorate cakes was the most wonderful way to spend a summer! 44 yrs decorating and I have never tried to make these pastries. Your pics are very helpful and inspirational. Thank you for sharing your talent and enthusiasm.
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
janet, i LOVE it! thank you so much for stopping by. 11th grade!! incredible. i wish i had started earlier… :) 44 years is an illustrious career indeed, i am so glad that my post has inspired you! xo
JulietteSurprise
OK i must admit, being french, american so-called “cake recipe” often amaze me as they mostly consist in “mix a box of cake magic powder mix with…” and end up being un-tasteful pretty things. But THIS ONE! THIS RECIPE OF YOURS! It just sounds as GOOD as it looks amazingly pretty. I MUST TRY THOSE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Thank you!!!
Twinkie Chan
Hello!! I know this post is many years old, but I’m wondering if you might tell us where the super cute white pastry cup came from? xo
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
Hi! It is from a company called Imm Living but I’m not sure if they’re still in business??