Choux pastry is the type of pastry used to make cream puffs, éclairs, gougères, croquembouche and Paris-Brest. Unlike shortcrust pastry and puff pastry, choux pastry is sticky and soft, and needs to be piped rather than rolled out. It’s also cooked on the hob before being used.

Although choux pastry is a bit trickier to make than shortcrust pastry, it’s easier than it looks and well worth mastering so that you can make all manner of tasty dishes at home. If you’re new to choux pastry, choux buns (also known as cream puffs) are a great place to start. They can be flavoured with anything from strawberry and elderflower to matcha and white chocolate. After tackling choux buns, éclairs are a great next step. The classic flavours of éclair are chocolate and crème pâtissière, but as with choux buns they can be filled with and flavoured with pretty much anything you like.

Choux pastry is also used in ways you might not expect - the raw dough can be boiled to make gnocchi Parisienne, or deep-fried to make cheesy beignets or the hilariously named pets-de-nonne (nun’s farts). Check out our full collection below for inspiration on all the different ways you can use this classic French pastry.