Which dough is used to make light hollow pastries such as cream puffs and éclairs?

• A. Pate a choux
• B. Puff pastry
• C. Phyllo dough
• D. Shortcrust pastry

Answer: (A)

Pâte à choux is a batter that puffs up in the oven and leaves a hollow interior, which is ideal for cream puffs and éclairs. It’s made by cooking a mixture of water (or milk), fat, and flour on the stove to hydrate and gelatinize the starch, then beating in eggs to form a smooth batter. When baked, the high moisture turns to steam, pushing the dough upward and outward and creating a light, hollow center that can be filled with cream.

Puff pastry, by contrast, is a laminated dough that creates many flaky layers through butter between sheets of dough, not a hollow interior. Phyllo dough is very thin sheets used for crispy layered pastries, not a puff with a hollow interior. Shortcrust pastry is a crumbly, sturdy dough used for tarts and pies, which doesn’t puff to form a hollow cavity.