A good choux bun needs a high, hollow rise, a lid that shatters rather than bends, and a filling sharp enough to cut the richness. Craquelin (a thin disc of sugar dough laid on top before baking) gives the rise and the crisp lid; a quick marmalade chantilly gives the sharpness; and a spoonful of marmalade piped into the centre means the first bite breaks into a hidden seam of citrus.
Yield and time
- Makes: four large buns (each about 8cm across)
- Hands-on: about 90 minutes, start to serve
- Total: no rests, no chill; bake takes around 30 minutes, and the filling comes together while the buns bake
This is a race against the choux: the buns take the longest, because they have to bake and cool before they’re filled. Everything else fits into the gaps. Read it through once before you start, get your kit cold, and keep moving.
Ingredients
The marmalade does double duty: folded through the cream and cored into the centre. Any good chunky-cut marmalade works; the Sweet-Orange Marmalade here is a fast one-day batch if you keep a jar.
For the craquelin
- 50g unsalted butter, soft
- 60g light soft brown sugar
- 60g plain flour
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
- A pinch of salt
For the choux paste
- 80g water
- 80g whole milk
- 70g unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ tsp caster sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 100g plain flour, sifted
- 3 large eggs, beaten
For the marmalade chantilly and to finish
- 250ml double cream, cold
- 1 tbsp icing sugar, plus more for dusting
- About 120g marmalade
You’ll also want two baking trays, baking parchment, one piping bag (you’ll reuse it, paste first and cream at the end) with a 12-15mm round nozzle for the paste and a long narrow filling nozzle for the cream, a sandwich or freezer bag to improvise the marmalade corer, a round cutter about 8cm, a rolling pin, a skewer, an electric whisk, and a wire rack. Put the cream, a mixing bowl, and the beaters in the freezer the moment you start; cold kit whips in half the time.
Craquelin first, and oven on
Turn the oven to 190°C (170°C fan) straight away so it’s hot when the paste is ready.
Beat the 50g soft butter, 60g brown sugar, zest of 1 orange, and the pinch of salt together until smooth, then work in the 60g flour until it comes together as a soft, slightly tacky dough. A few seconds, no more. Tip it onto a sheet of parchment, lay a second sheet on top, and roll it out to about 2mm thick, as thin and even as you can manage. Slide the whole sheet, parchment and all, flat into the freezer.
The choux paste
Line two trays with parchment.
Put the 80g water, 80g milk, 70g cubed butter, ½ tsp sugar, and ¼ tsp salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Let the butter melt fully before the liquid reaches a boil. The moment it’s at a rolling boil, take it off the heat, tip in all 100g flour at once, and beat hard with a wooden spoon until it forms a smooth ball with no dry streaks.
Back on low heat, keep beating and turning the paste for 2 minutes to drive off moisture. It’s ready when a thin film coats the base of the pan and the paste pulls cleanly from the sides.
Tip the paste into a bowl and beat it hard for a minute or two; this both releases steam and cools it fast. Once it’s warm rather than hot, add the 3 beaten eggs a little at a time, beating fully between each addition. Stop adding when the paste is glossy and falls from the spoon in a thick V-shaped ribbon.
Pipe, cap, and bake
Spoon the paste into the piping bag with the 12-15mm nozzle. Pipe four fat mounds, well spaced (two per tray), each about 7cm across and a good 4cm tall, holding the bag vertical and lifting straight up. Wet a fingertip and press down any peaks so they don’t scorch.
Take the craquelin from the freezer, cut four discs with the 8cm cutter, and lay one flat on top of each mound, a touch wider than the base so it drapes as the bun rises. Work quickly; once it softens it won’t sit.
Into the oven for 30-34 minutes. Do not open the door for the first 22 minutes. The rise is steam-driven, and a draught of cold air collapses it. The buns are done when deeply golden and firm. Judge by the bun, not the lid. Turn the oven off, prop the door ajar with a wooden spoon, and leave them another three minutes to dry out.
The marmalade chantilly, while it bakes
This is your calm window. Whip the 250ml cold double cream with the 1 tbsp icing sugar to soft peaks. Warm about 80g of the marmalade for a few seconds to loosen it, chop any long peel into shorter shreds, and fold it gently through the cream. Cover the bowl and keep it in the fridge until the buns are cool. While the buns bake, turn your emptied paste bag inside out, rinse it well, and stand it to dry.
Cool fast
The buns must lose their heat before filling, or the cream melts on contact. Rest them three minutes out of the oven, then move them to a wire rack in front of a fan or an open window. You want them no more than barely warm.
Fill and finish
Leave the buns whole. Turn each one over and make a hole in the underside with the skewer, waggling it gently to hollow out a cavity inside without splitting the shell.
Loosen the remaining marmalade so it’ll pipe. Splash in a little just-boiled water, a teaspoon at a time, and mix hard until it slackens to a smooth, loose purée that ribbons off the spoon. Spoon it into a corner of the sandwich bag, twist it tight, snip the very tip, push it into the hole, and squeeze a teaspoon deep into the centre of each bun. Now fit the filling nozzle to your rinsed piping bag, load it with the chantilly, push the nozzle into the same hole, and pipe until the bun feels heavy in your hand and the cream just resists at the opening. Wipe the base and sit it the right way up.
Dust the craquelin crowns with icing sugar.
Fill at the last possible moment and carry them straight to the table; the craquelin is at its crispest right after filling, and a chantilly-filled bun softens as it sits. Serve and take the applause.
