Cream puffs, profiteroles, eclairs and choux au craquelin share a difficult set of properties: light, hollow, filled, glazed on top, and ruined by contact. The box exists almost entirely to keep the pieces apart and to stop anything resting on the tops. To order, go to choux boxes.
Measure the finished piece, not the recipe
A piped shell grows in the oven and then gains more from filling, glaze, craquelin and any topping. Measure a real, finished, decorated piece:
- Widest diameter at the equator of the puff, or the length of a finished eclair.
- Total height including glaze, craquelin dome and any garnish standing proud.
- Variation across a batch. Piped pastry is not identical unit to unit, so size to the largest you would be happy to sell, not the average.
The insert is the design
| Insert | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Die-cut card platform with circular cavities | The common route. Holds each piece in place, cheap, and folds flat for storage. |
| Moulded pulp tray | Deeper cradles, better for taller or heavier filled pieces, and it reads as more premium |
| Partition grid | Good for eclairs and rectangular pieces, less good for round ones that roll within a square cell |
| No insert, greaseproof liner only | Only workable for short, careful transport, and pieces will touch |
Whatever the insert, its thickness is part of the internal dimension and the lid must clear the tallest garnish without touching it. Because the die is included in the job, an insert cut to your exact piece size costs no more to tool than a generic cavity.
Moisture, grease and the lid
Choux behaves differently from most bakery goods. The shell wants to stay dry, the filling makes the interior humid, and glaze and butter mean grease reaches the board. Three decisions follow:
- Grease resistance should be specified by name on any box that carries glazed or buttery pastry, and you should ask what provides it, since coatings differ in how they behave and in what they do to recyclability.
- Venting versus sealing. A crisp craquelin shell benefits from a little air movement. A chilled custard-filled piece wants the opposite. Pick the one your product actually needs rather than defaulting.
- A flat, rigid lid. Bakery boxes get stacked, at your counter and in a delivery bag. A lid that sags puts a thumbprint in the glaze on every piece under it.
Windows, counts and presentation
A window sells filled pastry better than a photograph does, at the cost of a film layer and a slightly slower assembly. Choose your counts deliberately: a box designed for a fixed count presents full and tidy, while a generic box that holds four or six depending on how you load it always looks half empty at the smaller count. If you sell several counts, it is usually better to have two dies than one compromise box.
Materials and suitability
Food-contact suitability depends on the food, the temperature, the contact time and where you operate. Confirm the requirements for your application and jurisdiction, and get the material specification confirmed in writing on your quote. We do not certify compliance on your behalf. If these boxes also go out through delivery platforms, the structural and tamper issues are covered on how to package food for delivery.
Minimums, price and lead time
The minimum is 100 boxes and pricing starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes, confirmed on your written quote. The die, the plates, design support, US shipping and a digital proof before anything prints are included. We make in West Chicago in the US and Guangzhou in China, and turnaround is quoted per product in three lanes: rush (expedited production plus air freight), standard (air) and cost saver (sea), from about 7 business days plus 2 to 5 for delivery.
Order at choux boxes.
Send the measurements of a finished piece, your counts and whether you want a window through the quote form, and we will come back with an insert layout, an internal dimension and a written price.
