Baking

Hot Toddy Choux Buns

Give your choux buns the wintry wow factor with these indulgent bakes

30 minutes prep, 25 minutes cook

Serves Makes 16-18

Ingredients

250ml milk

3 egg yolks

20g cornflour

1 tsp vanilla extract

60g sugar

30ml whisky

1 heaped tsp honey

25g butter, cubed

225ml milk

115g butter

Pinch of salt

140g strong white flour

4 eggs, whisked

Method

To make the crème pâtissière, first warm up your milk in a saucepan.

In a bowl whisk together your egg yolks, cornflour, vanilla, sugar, whisky and honey. Once combined, add a wee bit of the warm milk and stir constantly. Add this back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk and stir until thick.

Take off the heat and keep stirring while you add cubes of butter. To let it chill and set, cover with cling film (pressing down onto the surface of the crème pâtissière), and place in the fridge.

To make the choux buns, first preheat your oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/ Gas 6.

Warm the milk, butter and salt in a saucepan. Once the butter has melted, add the flour. This will turn into a dough; keep stirring for 2 minutes to get it smooth. Take off the heat and leave to cool enough that you don’t see steam rising from the pan, then slowly add your whisked eggs, stirring all the time. It should make a thick dough that drops off a spoon if shaken.

Place in a piping bag and pipe wee dollops onto a baking tray lined with parchment. Wet your finger and dampen down any points on top of the bun.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes then reduce the temperature to 170°C/Fan 150°C/Gas 4 for the final 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door! Once you take them out, pierce each of the buns immediately to let the steam out.

To assemble, make a cross on the bottom of each bun. Put your crème pâtissière in a piping bag and fill each bun. Now break up the chocolate, add half to a bowl and place in the microwave in bursts of 20 seconds until melted. Add the rest of the chocolate and stir until fully melted. Dip the top of each bun into the chocolate and leave to set on a rack before serving.