Cream Puffs: A Pastry For Our Times
A cream puff is magic. It starts out with water, butter, flour, salt and ends up the perfect container to lovingly cradle a sweet and smooth, tender pastry or whipped cream.
Semi-sweet chocolate ganache over chewy yet tender crust with creamy vanilla filling is the perfect combination of vanilla & chocolate, creamy & chewy, sweet & semi-sweet.
This pastry needs to be strong to protect and contain its delicate center. The vigorous mixing works out frustrations and channels energy into creating something ethereal, fleeting and, at least for a moment, perfect. With choux pastry, the more muscle the better. It’s also the perfect illustration of how sometimes, stuff has to look messy before it looks pretty.
With many types of pastry, agitation, water, and heat are the enemy as they develop gluten. Gluten is a protein formed from two smaller proteins present in flour, glutenin and gliaden. In the presence of water, the two bind together. Kneading smashes the proteins and forms more bonds and makes the dough stronger. That’s why, if you want a tender pie crust, you want to keep the dough cool and just wet enough to manipulate as little as possible. Choux paste is different. Choux pastes says, “Bring on your gluten! I want to be tough.” Choux paste needs strength so that as it cooks, the steam from the water and the egg can push the dough to create a cavity for a filling.
The dough goes through an amazing transformation. I understand why some might be hesitant. There are a lot of steps but each one is straightforward.
Cream Puffs with Pastry or Whipped Cream
Choux Pastry
1 stick butter cut into pieces
1 cup flour
4 whole eggs, room temperature
1 egg, scrambled with 1 teaspoon water
1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees, prep 1 large or 2 small baking sheets with parchment paper cut to size.
In a saucepan, bring to a boil water, butter, salt & sugar.
Add flour, stir vigorously for 4 minutes. At first, it will look like a mess, but within a minute, it will turn into a glossy dough.
3. Put cooked pastry into bowl, cool for a few minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing vigorously after each egg to incorporate. Again, it will look like a mess, but the dough will come together!
5. Place a small dollop of uncooked pastry in each corner of baking sheet like glue to keep the parchment paper from moving.
6. Use pastry bag, ziplock bag, or scoop to make puffs. In the picture above, second from the left, I used all three. As you can see from the cooked puffs on the right, they all worked just fine. Make sure to smooth rough spots on uncooked dough with a wet finger.
7. Brush with egg wash.
8. Bake for about 30 minutes until puffs are golden brown.
9. Remove puffs from oven, turn off oven.
10. Use a toothpick to make a small hole in the side of each puff, replace in hot oven for five minutes.
11. Once cool, use a pastry bag to fill or cut in half and spoon in pastry or whipped cream.
Quick Pastry Cream
Classic pastry cream filling is cooked and must chill for at least two hours. This version is a tasty substitute. Don’t make this more than an hour ahead of time. It gets firm quickly. I’ve tried a variety of puddings but chocolate and vanilla are my favorite.
1 small box of instant vanilla pudding
1 1/3 cup whole milk
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
Add ingredients into mixing bowl.
Whisk until ingredients are smooth and thickened slightly, about 3 minutes.
Chill for at least half an hour.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips or 1/2 cup chopped semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
Place chips in a small bowl.
Heat cream in microwave until nearly boiling.
Pour cream over chips, let sit for one minute.
Stir until smooth.
If the mixture cools, warm it in microwave, 5 seconds at a time
If you’re using a pastry bag, fill the puffs first, then dip in the ganache. If you’re spooning in the filling, slice the puff slightly higher than half. Spoon the filling onto the bottom then dip the top half in the ganache and place it on top or spoon it over the top. These can stay in the fridge for 2 days (if they last that long!)
Happy birthday Grandma Jack!