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| Alternative names | Petits choux |
|---|---|
| Course | Petits fours |
| Place of origin | France |
| Serving temperature | Hot or cold |
| Main ingredients | Choux pastry, sugar |
Chouquettes (French:[ʃukɛt]) orpetits choux are small pieces of Frenchpatisserie consisting of small spheres ofchoux pastry, sugared and baked. The term was known in the 16th century, and was originally applied to small savoury spheres. Since the late 17th centurychoquettes have been sweet.
InThe Oxford Companion to Food,Alan Davidson writes that the term is of long standing: "A street cry in the 16th century was 'Choux, petits choux, tout chauds' [all hot]."[1] According toLe Thresor de santé (The Treasury of Health), published by Jean-Antoine Huguetan in 1607:
Randle Cotgrave'sA Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues (1611) gives the name of the item as "tichous" – "Little cakes made of egges and flower with a little butter (and sometimes cheese among) eaten ordinarily with sugar and Rosewater."[3] Davidson notes thatAntoine Furetière'sDictionnaire universel (1690) describes "something closer to the modernpetits choux, without cheese".[1]
Davidson describeschouquettes as among the most popular Parisianfriandises – "eaten at tea when warm and soft, semi-dry at other times".[1] Wedding cakes are sometimes constructed from them, in the manner of acroquembouche, withcrème pâtissière inside.[1]
