Choux pastry calculator
Choux paste for cream puffs and éclairs — flour cooked in boiling water and butter, then beaten with more egg than there is flour.
Total hydration counts the water inside the eggs, milk and butter.
Choux is cooked twice. First the flour is scalded in boiling water and butter, which gelatinises the starch. Then the cooled paste is beaten with eggs, and the water they bring turns to steam in the oven and blows the bun open from the inside.
How it works
More egg than flour
200 g of egg to 150 g of flour, or 133%. The egg is the water, the fat, and the thing that holds the shape once the steam has gone. The Polish recipes come down to 116% — four medium eggs to 190 g of flour at AniaGotuje.
The scald
Water, butter and salt have to reach a boil before the flour goes in, all at once. The paste is then stirred over the heat until it is smooth and pulls away from the pan — under a minute at King Arthur, about a minute at AniaGotuje, two or three at Moje Wypieki. The calculator totals the ingredients; King Arthur calls its yield "about 2 cups (600 g)", a volume estimate, and the pan gives back a little less than went in.
Eggs one at a time
The paste has to cool first or the egg simply scrambles. Then the eggs go in singly, each beaten in fully. Finished paste falls off the spoon slowly, in a wide ribbon; if it runs in a stream, there was too much egg.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- King Arthur — Pâte à Choux — The anchor, and the only one of the three that weighs everything: 150 g flour / 227 g water (151%) / 113 g butter (75%) / ⅜ tsp salt (1.5%) / 4 large eggs (133%).
- AniaGotuje — ptysie — The lean end and the piece weight: 190 g flour / 250 ml water (132%) / 130 g butter (68%) / 4 medium eggs, 14 puffs of about 56 g.
- Moje Wypieki — ptysie — The wet end at 156% water on 160 g of flour, and the small piece at ~35 g — 20 puffs from the same amount of water.
FAQ
Why did my puffs collapse?
Almost always the oven door, opened too early. The steam that raised them escapes before the wall has set. Both Polish sources bake the same way: 200°C for 25–30 minutes.
How much paste per puff?
AniaGotuje pipes 14 at about 56 g; Moje Wypieki gets 20 smaller ones at roughly 35 g. The paste expands a great deal, so the gaps on the tray need to be wider than they look.
Why so much butter?
113 g against 150 g of flour, 75%. Fat interrupts the gluten network, and that is what makes the shell short rather than rubbery. The Polish recipes come down to 56%, but on more flour.
How much salt?
2.3 g to 150 g of flour, 1.5%. King Arthur is the only one of the three sources that weighs it; the Polish recipes say "a pinch" and leave it there.