I just returned from a family and food-filled trip to France, where I grew up. Every time I get a chance to go home, I make sure my time is packed with my favourite people, spots and good eats. I absolutely love chouquettes -- these light and airy bite-size pastries topped with crunchy pearl sugar. I can't make a trip back home without snacking on a few. They're a staple of most 'boulangeries' (pastry stores) and are made from classic choux pastry, a base dough for many quintessential French desserts like éclairs, gougères and profiteroles. The specificity of chouquettes is that they're puffed and hollow so they feel airy when you eat them. In other words, they'll deceptively make your feel like you're enjoying a pretty light treat (the dough is still made with a generous amount of butter, of course!). They are sprinkled with white pearl sugar -- a pretty stellar, crunchy complement to the soft golden dough. I just love them. To make these at home, follow our dough directions in this profiterole recipe, sprinkling the top of each chouquette with pearl sugar before baking. Don't slice these in half (profiteroles are halved to be then filled with ice cream). It can be a little tedious to get your hands on pearl sugar on this side of the world, but you can substitute with a light sprinkling of coarse sugar instead.