Cream Puffs

One of the favorite desserts at home are cream puffs. Usually I tend to make them small and bite sized, but this time I decided to make them nice and big! One misconception that many people have is that making pate a choux (the "puff" of cream puffs) is difficult, but its surprisingly simple. The dough is very versatile and can be used to make not just cream puffs but profiteroles or eclairs. I usually fill my cream puffs with a simple vanilla filling, but you can mix it up by using different flavored fillings, such as chocolate or even mocha!

Here is a trio of cream puffs. For a pretty presentation I placed them in brown mini muffin cups.


A close up of one of the cream puffs. Doesn't it look absolutely yummy?


Recipe for pate a choux

1 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a small saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, making sure that the butter melts completely. Reduce the heat to low, and add the cup of flour. Stir in the flour until it forms a ball of dough that pulls away from the sides of the pan. Continue to cook the dough over the low heat (stirring constantly) until a film forms in the bottom of the pan.

Put the dough into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the dough for a couple minutes until it cools a little. Add the eggs, one at a time, and making sure each egg is beaten well into the dough.

Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. For less mess, pipe rounds of dough using a pastry bag with a large star or round tip (or even a ziploc bag with a corner cut off). Bake the puffs for about 20 - 25 minutes, until they are puffed and golden. One way to test to see if they are done is to prick one puff. If it deflates quickly, then the puffs are not baked enough.

When they are done baking, prick the side of each puff and return the sheet back into the oven, with the heat turned OFF. This will help dry out the inside of the puffs.

When the puffs are cooled, fill with either pastry cream or ice cream.

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Pastry cream recipe (from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise with the seeds scraped
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstartch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut in small pieces)

In a medium size saucepan, combine the milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt. Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a simmer.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. While whisking, slowly pour about 1/4 of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks. Continue to slowly add the hot milk (about 1/2 cup at a time) to the egg yolks until it has all been mixed. Pour the sauce back into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat while whisking constantly. Cook the cream until it reaches a temperature of 160 degrees F and it has thickened.

Remove the saucepan from heat, remove the vanilla bean, and whisk in the pieces of butter. Continue to whisk for about 5 minutes until the cream cools down. (This can also be done using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic down onto the surface of the cream. Refrigerate the cream until cool.

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Easy "Pastry Cream"

Sometimes I just want to make a quick, easy filling. I use instant vanilla pudding and heavy whipping cream.

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 3.4 ounce package of instant vanilla pudding

Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream at about medium-high speed for about 3-4 minutes. You don't want to make whipped cream so do not beat for too long! Just beat until the cream has lightened and increased in volume. Add the package of vanilla pudding and beat until it has been well mixed into the cream.

Cover the cream with plastic wrap, with the plastic pressed down over the cream. Refrigerate until ready to use.