Duchesses à la Reine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Wooden spoon
• •Parchment-lined baking sheet
• •Two piping bags with plain tips
• •Food processor
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Pastry brush
• •Shallow bowl for chilling the gelée

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the Choux paste

   Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment. Bring the water, butter, and salt to a full boil in a small heavy saucepan, making certain the butter has melted before the water boils away. Take the pan off the heat, add the flour all at once, and beat firmly with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. Return it to medium heat and work the paste for 2 to 3 minutes, until it gathers into a smooth ball and leaves a thin film across the pan floor. This drying matters: a wet paste spreads instead of rising.

   The paste is ready for the eggs when it looks satiny rather than greasy and pulls cleanly from the sides of the saucepan.
2. 2

   Shape and bake

   Let the paste cool for 3 minutes, then beat in the first egg until the mixture becomes smooth again. Add the second beaten egg a spoonful at a time, stopping when the paste is glossy and falls from the spoon in a heavy V; depending on the flour and the size of the eggs, a little may remain. Pipe twenty-four rounds about 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) wide, leaving space between them, and flatten pointed tops with a damp fingertip. Bake for 10 minutes, lower the oven to 375°F (190°C), and continue for 15 to 18 minutes without opening the door, until the Choux are deep butter-gold and feel light. Pierce each underneath, turn off the oven, and return them for 8 minutes with the door slightly ajar. Cool completely. If a shell softens, ça se rattrape: bake it again at 300°F (150°C) for 6 to 8 minutes, then cool before filling.

   Pale Choux are underbaked Choux. Give the shells real color and dry their interiors thoroughly, because the cold filling cannot repair a damp wall.
3. 3

   Prepare the gelée

   Put 1/4 cup (60 ml / 60 g) of the cold chicken broth in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over it. Leave it for 5 minutes to bloom. Heat the remaining broth just until small bubbles gather at the edge, then remove it from the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatin until completely dissolved. Strain into a shallow bowl, taste for salt, and set the bowl over ice, stirring occasionally, until the gelée is clear, glossy, and the consistency of light syrup. If it sets before you need it, warm the bowl gently over barely warm water; if it remains watery, return it to the ice. Ça se rattrape.

   Do not boil the gelatin. High heat weakens its set and dulls the clean poultry flavor.
4. 4

   Make the poultry purée

   Process the cooked poultry with 1/4 cup (60 ml / 60 g) of the cold cream, the salt, and white pepper until very smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl several times. Force the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve with a flexible scraper; the processor replaces the old mortar, but the sieve stays because the white, silken texture is part of the dish. Whip the remaining cream only until it holds soft folds, then fold it into the poultry purée. The finished purée should hold from a piping bag without feeling stiff. If it crumbles, work in a teaspoon of cold cream; if it becomes loose, chill it for 15 minutes before filling.

   Remove every scrap of skin, browned crust, and sinew before puréeing. The filling should remain pale and perfectly smooth.
5. 5

   Fill the Choux

   Fit a piping bag with a narrow plain tip and fill it with the cold poultry purée. Enlarge the drying hole beneath each Choux just enough to admit the tip, then pipe until the shell feels generously heavy but has not begun to split. Wipe the bottoms clean and stand the filled duchesses upright. Keep them cold while bringing the gelée to its coating consistency; warm purée or warm jelly will soften the pastry.

6. 6

   Glaze and crown

   Brush each dome with a thin coat of syrupy gelée and wait 2 minutes, then apply a second coat for an even clear gloss. Sprinkle the finely chopped black truffle over the gelée while it is still tacky, pressing nothing down. If the glaze runs into the pastry, it is too warm; chill it over ice for a few minutes and coat again. Refrigerate the finished Duchesses à la Reine for 20 to 30 minutes so the jelly sets, then serve within 2 hours, while the Choux still holds its delicate shell. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Plainly cooked poultry is what you want. Roast meat is fine if it has no garlic, herbs, smoke, or dark seasoning clinging to it; remove the skin and browned edges so the purée remains white.
• •A whole preserved black truffle is the honest classical-pantry answer when excellent fresh truffle is unavailable. Drain it well and chop it by hand. Truffle oil has no place here; it gives perfume without the dark, tender crown the source requires.
• •The gelée must taste pleasantly savory before it sets because chilling mutes seasoning. Keep it clear and restrained, however, or it will cover the poultry and truffle rather than frame them.
• •Serve three or four duchesses per person with a dry Champagne or Crémant. They are small, rich bites, so the wine should be brisk and unsweetened.
• •Keep the filled duchesses refrigerated and do not leave them at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. Poultry purée and cream require the same attention as any other cold poultry dish.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the Choux shells a day ahead and keep them airtight at room temperature once completely cool. Refresh them at 300°F (150°C) for 6 minutes and cool them again before filling.
• •Prepare the poultry purée and gelée a day ahead and refrigerate them separately. Press a piece of parchment directly against the purée, and remelt the gelée gently before cooling it back to coating consistency.
• •Fill and glaze the duchesses from 30 minutes to 2 hours before serving. Longer storage softens the shells, so make the components ahead and save assembly for the day of the dinner.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)