Meaning & use
choux
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Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
A light pastry made from a cooked dough of flour, butter, water, and eggs, used for éclairs and cream puffs.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun for the pastry itself: make choux pastry; it is not usually used with an or an.
Patterns
- choux pastry
- make choux
- choux dough
The baker piped the choux pastry into small rounds before baking.
Choux is tricky at first because you must dry the dough before adding the eggs.
She filled the choux buns with vanilla cream.
nouncountable
A small cake or bun made from this pastry, especially one filled with cream.
Grammar: Countable when it means individual cakes: a choux, two choux; the plural is also choux.
Patterns
- a choux
- fill the choux
- a plate of choux
The café sells chocolate choux and fruit tarts.
He bought a box of choux for the party.
Word forms
| plural | choux |
|---|
Common combinations
- choux pastry
- Choux pastry is used for profiteroles.
- pipe choux
- Pipe the choux onto a lined baking sheet.
- choux bun
- The choux bun was filled with fresh cream.
- choux dough
- The choux dough should be smooth and glossy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pâte à choux
- The full French name for the same pastry; it is used in some cookbooks and restaurants.
Commonly confused: choux or chow? choux or shoe?
choux vs chow
Chow is informal for food, or a breed of dog; choux is a French pastry.
choux vs shoe
Shoe sounds similar in some accents but means footwear; choux is pronounced like 'shoo' and means pastry.
Practice
What is choux used for in baking?
Choose one answer.
Choux is a light pastry made from a cooked dough with eggs, used for éclairs and cream puffs. It is not a yeast bread, a sauce, or a syrup.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “choux”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.