Cream Puffs
Whip up some magic in the kitchen with my simple and customizable cream puff recipe, guaranteed to impress at any gathering!
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Equipment
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
Choux Pastry:
- ¼ cup water ~60 ml
- ¼ cup milk ~60 ml
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter ~45 g
- 2½ oz all-purpose flour ~70 g
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1¼ tsp sugar
- 2 large eggs ~95g after cracking
Pastry Cream:
- 1¼ cups milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch or 1½ tbsp potato starch
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature (~100 g)
Instructions
Pastry Cream:
- Butter Prep: Slice butter and let it sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour to warm up.
- Pudding Setup: Measure pudding ingredients, set aside 1/3 of milk. In a pot, mix remaining milk, sugar, vanilla extract, egg yolks, and heat.
- Starch Slurry: Mix reserved milk with cornstarch in a separate bowl.
- Cook Pudding: Once milk mixture is almost boiling, add the starch slurry while stirring. Stir on low heat until thickened, then remove from heat.
- Cooling: Cover pudding with plastic wrap, cool to room temperature for 60-90 minutes.
- Pastry Cream: Whip room-temperature butter, then gradually add cooled pudding (one tablespoon at a time) and mix to a creamy consistency.
- Adjust Taste: Add powdered sugar if needed, mix briefly to combine.
- Chill Cream: Refrigerate for at least an hour before use.
Make Choux Pastry:
- Preheat Oven: Set to 390°F (200°C).
- Boil Butter Mixture: In a pot, mix butter, milk, water, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil, ensuring the butter melts completely.
- Add Flour: Off the heat, add flour all at once and stir. Return to low heat, stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes until the dough is thick, glossy, and leaves a thin film on the pot bottom.
- Cool Dough: Transfer dough to a bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes, spreading it out to cool faster.
- Whisk Eggs: In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.
- Mix Dough: With the dough slightly cooled, mix with a hand mixer. Gradually add half the eggs, mix, then add the remaining eggs bit by bit until the dough forms a 'V' shape when lifted with a whisk or spatula.
Bake Puffs:
- Prepare Tray: Line baking tray with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Piping Setup: Fill piping bag with dough.
- Pipe Dough: Fill a piping bag and pipe dough onto the tray in 2-inch mounds, leaving 1¼ inches of space between each.
- Baking: Place the baking tray in the oven, immediately reduce temperature to 356°F (180°C), and bake for 40 minutes until slightly browned. Open the oven door slightly for the last 5 minutes of baking.
Fill and Serve:
- Cool Puffs: Let puffs cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
- Cut: Slice puffs horizontally.
- Fill: Pipe cream onto bottom halves, reassemble puffs.
- Decorate: Dust with powdered sugar.
- Serve: Enjoy immediately for best taste.
Notes
- Use a scale to measure flour. It's much more precise than going with cups.
Servings: 16 cream puffs