Baking In A Winter Wonderland

Edd Kimber shares four celebratory sweet bakes with a snowy theme

- Edd Kimber

Choux snowball tower

1 HOUR 45 MINUTES + COOLING

SERVES 6 | A LITTLE EFFORT

CHOUX PASTRY

whole milk 85ml

unsalted butter 85g, diced

caster sugar 2 tsp

fine sea salt 1/2 tsp

flour 85g (use a mixture of equal parts plain and bread flours)

eggs 3 large, beaten FILLING

coconut milk 400g tin (chill the tin – you’ll use 100g thickened cream from it)

double cream 400ml

vanilla bean paste 1 tsp

icing sugar 2 tbsp GLAZE

icing sugar 200g

whole milk 30ml

vanilla bean paste 1/4 tsp

flaked or desiccated coconut 50g, lightly toasted

• To make the choux pastry, pour 85ml of water and the milk into a medium pan with the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over a low-medium heat until the sugar and salt have dissolved, then turn up the heat to medium-high and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat, add the flour and quickly stir to make a dough. Return to the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until a film forms on the bottom of the pan. Tip the pastry into a bowl and beat for a couple of minutes until cooled. Add the eggs, a little at a time, beating in each addition until fully combined before adding more. Add just enough of the beaten eggs to make a slightly glossy dough that, when lifted from the bowl, falls from the spatula in a V-shape (you may not need all the eggs). If it tears when lifted, it needs a little more egg; if it’s too loose and flows easily, you’ve added too much.