Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the plain flour and mix to a soft dough.
Add a few drops of food colouring (red) and mix until all combined.
Roll between 2 pieces of grease proof paper until 3mm thick and pop into the freezer for 10 mins.
Remove the chilled Craquelin from the freezer. Using the open end of a large piping nozzle, cut rounds out of the dough. (Tip, dip the end of the nozzle in flour, so the dough releases easier)
Pop these back into the freezer, while you make the Choux pastry.
Put 60ml milk and 60ml water into a saucepan
Add the diced butter and salt
Put onto a gentle heat and stir until the butter has melted.
Fetch to a rolling boil and then tip in all of the sifted flour and remove from the heat.
Beat, to bring it all together (it may look messy at first) but it will come together
Pop the pan, back on a gentle heat and stir continuously (1 min), to cook out the flour a little. It will come together as one ball of dough. Tip this into a bowl and leave to cool for a while (good time for a cuppa)
Beat the eggs in a small jug and add to the cooled dough, a little at a time
You can use an electric hand mixer, or just use a spoon. Depending on the size of your eggs, you may not need to use all of the mix. You will end up with a glossy dough, when ready.
Put a plain 1.25cm piping nozzle into a piping bag and fill it with your Choux pastry.
Take your Craquelin rounds out of the freezer now.
Pipe small rounds onto a baking tray (it may be wise to line it with baking parchment) Once you’ve piped them all, carefully pop one of your Craquelin discs on top of the Choux.
Sprinkle the tray (not the Choux) with a few drops of water.
Bake for 18-20 mins, then remove from the oven and pierce with a skewer and pop back into the oven, for approx 5 mins, then remove from the oven and put onto a cooling rack, to cool fully.
Once cool, you can now fill the Choux buns.
Slice the Choux buns in half and add a little of the Creme Pat
Then pipe whipped cream on top of this and put the tops back on.
You can decorate the tops with a drizzle of white chocolate, like this
On this occasion the Craquelin was coloured red, but you can use whatever colour you choose.
Thank you so much to Rob Allen for this amazing Christmas recipe – to see more from Rob please visit him on Instagram!
FWP Matthews Ltd
Station Road
Shipton under Wychwood
Chipping Norton
Oxfordshire
OX7 6BH
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E-mail sales@fwpmatthews.co.uk
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With a milling legacy spanning eight generations, Matthews Cotswold Flour is one of the UK’s oldest family-run flour mills. Trading grain and milling flour in the heart of the Cotswolds since the 1800s, we believe passionately that our local partnerships, traditional methods and premium grains make for better baking.
We are proud to offer premium quality Organic and Stoneground Wholegrain flour, using grain from local farmers and time-honoured milling techniques.
The Matthews Cotswold Flour story began when the original FWP Matthews built a mill on the river Evenlode in 1912. You’ll find us working here to this day, overlooking the picturesque Cotswold village of Shipton-Under-Wychwood.
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