Cream Puffs
Cream Puffs and Eclairs
Yield: About 2 dozen small puffs
Class pate a choux recipe to make crispy, light cream puffs. Fill with whatever strikes your fancy.
Ingredients:
for the pastry (adapted from "Pie & Pastry Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbuam)
- 1 cup water (236 g)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (113 g)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (140 g)
- 1 cup whole eggs (about 5 large eggs)
for the pastry cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6 tbsp sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 ½ tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract (or Vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped)
- 6 large egg yolks (or 3 yolks + 1 whole egg for a lighter version)
- 5 oz bittersweet or dark chocolate (optional)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
for the chocolate ganache
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz chopped dark or semisweet chocolate
Instructions:
make the choux pastry
- Preheat oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicon mats.
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar and salt. Bring to a rolling boil. Turn off heat and add flour all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon vigorously until the mixture is smooth and balls up. Return to low heat and continue to stir, cooking for two minutes more.
- Remove from heat. Transfer to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment if desired. Let cool slightly. Then add eggs, one at a time, beating each egg in until completely incorporated before adding the next egg. Batter should be smooth and flow slowly off your spoon or beater.
- For cream puffs: use two teaspoons to form rounded balls on the cookie sheet OR use a melon baller, OR use a piping bag fitted with a ½ inch piping tip or ½ in diameter opening cut in the bag. Use a wet finger to smooth out any points.
- For eclairs: using a piping bag fitted with a ½ tip pipe 3-4-inch lengths, leaving 3 inches between each length.
- Bake at 400F for 30 minutes. Check halfway through, if browning too fast, reduce temperature to 350F. After full 30 minutes of baking, remove tray and use a toothpick to poke a hole in each puff or éclair. Turn off oven. Return to oven and continue to dry the puffs for another 10-15 minutes.
- Puffs should be light and hollow and crispy on the outside.
make the pastry cream
- Combine milk & cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan. If using a vanilla bean, add vanilla bean, pod & seeds with milk. Heat over medium until just under a boil.
- Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl, combine eggs, sugar, salt, and cornstarch and whisk until completely blended.
- Melt chocolate in heat proof bowl, carefully in a microwave. Stir after every 30 seconds. Don't melt completely in microwave, the residual heat in the melted chocolate will melt remaining chunks as you stir. It is very easy to burn chocolate, so be careful. Once melted and smooth, set aside to cool.
- Once milk is hot, slowly stream in about 2/3 of a cup of hot milk/cream into egg mixture while whisking continuously. This is called tempering and heats the eggs up slowly, so they do not curdle.
- Pour egg mixture into saucepan with remaining milk/cream. Return to low/medium heat and whisk continuously until thicken to a pudding consistency. About 5 minutes.
- Take off heat and whisk in vanilla extract and butter. Whisk in chocolate and butter under the butter is melted. Pour into a shallow dish and cover with plastic. Allow to cool completely before using.
- If you have lumps, strain through a fine mesh sieve into your shallow dish.
make the chocolate ganache
- Microwave Method: Combine chocolate and cream in heat proof bowl. Microwave for about 1 minute. Stir until smooth. If chocolate isn’t completely melted, return to microwave for 10 second intervals.
- Stove top method: Heat cream in small saucepan until scalding hot (do not boil). Pour over chopped chocolate. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 10 minutes. Then stir gently until combined.
Notes:
This choux dough can be used to make churros as well. Bring at least 2 inches of frying oil to about 350F, using a piping bag fitted with a 1M star tip and pipe lengths directly into the oil. Use a slotted spoon to turn and lightly brown all sides. Immediately dredge in cinnamon and sugar.
