I’m not sure how to describe this but sometimes when i make pate a choux the bottom rises as well so instead of a flat bottom i get a bottom that has a dent in it.  I noticed this tends to happen when i use silpats.  But I’m not sure if its because the silpat or something else.  Any of you had this happen to you before?  Any idea on why its doing it?

I make it all the time, never had this problem…but always have used a greased and floured regular metal pan.  never used a silpat liner.

I think the silpat is just too slippery. I find parchment paper works very well. Try and see if it makes a difference.

I made these for Thanksgiving (cheese version/gougeres) and used parchment brushed with clarified butter and sprinkled with a little Wondra.  They released beautifully, lifted right off.

I was wondering what would happen if baked on a silpat, and why none of the recipes I looked at (from several different authors) mentioned silpats, perhaps you’ve answered my question.  I’m speculating that the texture of the silpat allowed enough air beneath them to help form your indents.

I also noticed that the puffs that I piped in a rosette pattern formed a hollow in the bottom/middle, could that have contributed to your result as well?

I also made the gougeres from the PPB recently and baked mine on a silpat with no additional greasing, flouring. I piped the base first, then did a second swirl of piping on top. Most of the gougeres had a flat base, but some did have the indentation described; I assumed it was my piping method on those few that caused this….perhaps not filling my base layer in completely.