Choux Pastry and Cream Puffs

Category: Pastries > Cream Puffs

You might think that cream puffs would be hard to make because of the dough, but I was surprised how easy it was to make these. In fact, it is probably one of the easier doughs to make.



Recipe:

Dough-

• 1/2 cup Flour
  
• 1/2 tsp. Sugar
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
  
• 1/2 cup Water
  
• 2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
  

Egg Wash-

• 1 large Egg
  
• 1/8 tsp. Salt
  

Whipped Cream-

• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 1 tbsp. Sugar
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Place butter and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and quickly add the flour mixture. Return to heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about 2 minutes). Transfer dough to electric mixer and beat on low speed a minute or two to release the steam from the dough.

While the dough cools, make the egg wash. Add 1 egg and salt into bowl and beat well. Set aside for later use.

Once the dough is lukewarm, start adding the 2 eggs and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste.

Spoon or pipe 12 mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing a couple of inches apart. Glaze with the egg wash. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Back for another 30 to 40 minutes until the shells are a nice amber color and when split are dry inside. Turn the oven off and, with the oven door slightly ajar, let the shells dry out for a further 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

For whipped cream, in a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, whip the mixture until soft peaks form.

To Assemble, split the pastry shells in half and fill with the whipped cream. Dust with powdered sugar if you want.

Baking Tips:

• You don't have to fill the Choux Pastry with whipped cream. You can fill it with anything you would like. For example, chicken salad for a savory little sandwich snack.
  
• You can put the bowl you are mixing the whipped cream in inside a bigger bowl filled with ice water to help speed up the process.
  
• Make sure you don't over whip the whipping cream or else you will start to get butter.