Introduction: Choux Pastry Swan

This instructable is for making a beautiful Swan dessert using choux pastry. Apart from looking impressive at your dinner party, it is very tasty...

Good luck making it & enjoy!!!

Step 1: Template

First of all draw a swan template on plain paper and cut it out. Take this cut out template and put it on the back of the baking foil and draw around it to copy the shape. (for making identical other wing, just flip the one you've got).  I draw the shape on the back of the baking foil as I don't want the pastry to absorb any colour. As the baking foil is see through it's very easy to see the shape from the other side.

Step 2: Choux Pastry

Ingredients for two swans:
120 ml whole milk
120 ml water
pinch of salt and pinch of sugar
120 g of butter
140 g of flour
5 eggs
(piping bag is needed too)

Pour milk, water in a saucepan and add butter with salt and sugar. Heat the pan on a low heat until the butter melts. Turn up the heat and make it boil for couple of seconds. Then put this mixture in the plastic bowl add all the flour slowly and start mixing it with the mixer. After mixing the flour put the mixture back into the saucepan and add eggs one by one mixing well after adding each. It will seem that it will never intergrate but if you mix it long enough you will see it will integrate in the end (I usually mix it with a wooden spoon). After adding 5th egg the pastry will come out glossy and soft (you can see it on the picture below). p.s. you can use 3 eggs instead of 5 but I think 5 is better. Then put the mixture in a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe it out on the pre-prepared swan shape on the baking foil as shown on the picture. Bake it for about 18 minutes, gas mark 5. When it is ready,  take it out and cool it down . After the swan is cooled down, put it in the freezer to make it strong. (It only takes 15 minutes to defrost it, so take it out from the freezer 10 minutes before serving it).

Step 3: Making the Cream

Ingredients:
500 ml or 600 ml of double cream
Couple of drops of vanilla essence
Half a pint of icing sugar

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix it with the mixer until the mixture gets thick. Simple as that!

Step 4: Putting the Swan Together

Decorate the plate the way you like - I did it with some strawberry sauce and berries.. you can also use chocolate sauce and some ready made decorations from any supermarket. Put the cream in the piping bag and spread it (two layers as shown in my pics) on the plate. Take both wings and stick them together on the cream from both sides (opposite each other) and stick the head inside the cream in front of the wings and here is your Swan!

Step 5: Final Touches!

I only sprinkled it with icing sugar but you can also pour a thin layer of chocolate or strawberry sauce on it.  You can also sprinkle it with chocolate flakes!
I hope my instructions were helpful and clear! Bon apetit!