KITCHEN PRACTICE 3 — Choux Pastry, Piped & Baked
==================================================
Chapter: French Cookery 9 — Pastry Basics

TASK
----
Make a batch of choux pastry and pipe it into small mounds, baking
hot first and then lower, without opening the oven door early. Cut
one open once cooled to check the hollow centre.

WHAT TO DO
----------
1. Bring water, butter, and a pinch of salt to a full boil in a
   saucepan.
2. Remove from the heat and tip in the flour all at once, beating
   vigorously until it forms a smooth mass that pulls away cleanly
   from the sides of the pan.
3. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then beat in eggs one at
   a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the
   next, until the dough is smooth, glossy, and holds a soft ribbon
   shape when a spoon is lifted.
4. Pipe (or spoon) the dough into small mounds on a lined baking
   sheet, spaced well apart.
5. Bake in a hot oven for the first portion of the bake time to
   drive a strong initial puff, then reduce the oven temperature and
   continue baking to dry out the interior — resist the urge to open
   the door and check on them until close to the end.
6. Once baked and cooled, cut one open and look inside.

WHAT TO EXPECT
--------------
- The raw dough should hold its shape when piped, neither slumping
  flat nor holding too stiff a peak.
- During baking, the mounds should rise substantially and develop a
  real, visible dome shape — a direct result of the trapped steam
  pushing outward.
- If the oven door was kept shut until near the end, the finished
  puffs should still be standing tall and firm once cooled. If it
  was opened too early, some may have deflated or collapsed.
- Cutting one open should reveal a genuinely hollow centre, sometimes
  with a little soft, slightly moist dough remaining inside — this
  is normal and can be lightly hollowed out further if needed.

WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER
----------------------------
The hollow centre you find when you cut one open is direct, visible
proof of the leavening mechanism this chapter describes — there's no
baking powder or yeast anywhere in this recipe, so that empty space
was carved out entirely by steam pressure during baking, then left
behind once the structure set and the steam escaped or was absorbed.
Keeping the oven door shut protects exactly that: a puff that's
collapsed from an early door-opening is a direct, visible
demonstration of what happens when the trapped steam is allowed to
escape before the walls have set firm enough to hold their own shape.