Cream Puffs

I love making and eating cream puffs.  Cream puffs, choux a la crème, or profiteroles—it doesn’t matter what you call them, I love them, and to be honest, I could eat the entire batch myself.  There is something about these filled choux pastry that always put a smile on my face.

Cream puffs are easy and quick to make. I mean, seriously easy, and I wouldn’t lie to you about that. So quick and easy that you’ll wonder why you haven’t made them before.  It takes about 10 minutes to whip up the dough and get it shaped and into the oven.

 It is simply a matter of bringing water and butter to a boil, then dumping in flour and stirring it until a mass forms. Let the steaming dough cool for a moment then beat in eggs. Then depending on how big you make your cream puffs, they take about 30-40 minutes to bake, and they are ready to eat.  That’s it.

The choux dough is so versatile that you can make the puffs sweet or savory.  I filled the puffs with whipped cream filling with 4 flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and green tea.  All are incredibly delicious.  Perfect desserts for parties, entertaining, or pot lucks.

Cream Puffs

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry

·         120g all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon granulated sugar

·         ½ teaspoon salt

·         120g unsalted butter, cut into pieces

·         1 cup water

·         4 large eggs, lightly beaten

·         1 egg for glazing

Whipped Cream Filling

·         2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream (or double cream) 35-40% butterfat

·         1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·         65g granulated white sugar (or to taste)

Garnish

Powdered sugar (confectioners or icing)

Directions:

Choux Pastry

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly butter or spray the pan with a nonstick vegetable spray.

2.       In a bowl, sift and whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.

3.       Place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and with the wooden spoon, add the flour mixture, all at once, and stir until combined.  Return saucepan to the heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball (about 1-2 minutes).

4.       Transfer the dough to your electric mixer, or use your wooden spatula, and beat on low speed to release the steam from the dough.  Once the dough is lukewarm, start adding the lightly beaten eggs and continue to mix until you have a smooth thick paste.

5.       Put the dough into piping bag with a nozzle star and pipe the dough onto the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.  With a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the dough with a lightly beaten egg.

6.       Bake for  20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).  Continue to bake for a further 30 to 35 minutes or until shell are a nice amber color and when split, are almost dry inside. Turn the oven off, poke a couple of holes in each puff, and—with the oven door slightly ajar—let the shells completely cool and dry out.

Whipped Cream Filling

1.       Put you whisk and bowl in the freeze for at least 15 minutes.

2.       In a large mixing bowl. Place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. Stir to combine.  Cover and chill the bowl and whisk in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

3.       When chilled, whip the cream just until peaks form.

4.       Divide into 4 bowls with the same amount.  Add the flavor and mix well. I added chocolate powder, matcha, powder, and strawberry paste. The last bowl is vanilla flavor.  Pour each flavor into piping bag and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

To Assemble

1.       Split the pastry shell in half (or half-split) and pipe with whipped cream and place the top half of the pastry shell on the whipped cream.

2.       Dust with powdered sugar.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

Kulit Soes

·         120g tepung terigu serbaguna

·         1 sdt gula pasir

·         ½ sdt garam

·         120g mentega tawar, iris dadu

·         1 cup air

·         4 butir telur, kocok lepas

·         1 butir telur untuk olesan, kocok lepas

Whipped Cream Filling

·         2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream (or double cream) 35-40% butterfat

·         1 sdt ekstrak vanila

·         65g gula pasir (atau sesuai selera)

Hiasan

Gula halus

Cara:

Kulit Soes

1.       Panaskan oven dengan suhu 400 derajat F (200 derajat C) dan letakkan Loyang di tengah oven.  Alasi dengan kertas parchment atau oles dengan mentega.

2.       Aduk terigu, gula, dan garam.

3.       Masak mentega dan air sampai mendidih. Usahakan mentega mencair sebelum air mendidih.  Angkat, tambahkan terpung terigu dan aduk sampai bercampur.  Kembalikan ke atas kompor dan aduk terus sampai adonan membentuk bola yang kental (sekitar 1-2 menit)

4.       Pindahkan ke dalam mangkuk mikser, atau bisa juga dengan menggunakan spatula kayu, aduk dengan kecepatan rendah untuk menghilangkan uap panas.  Ketika adonan sudah hangat, masukkan telur  dan kocok hingga membentuk adonan yang kental dan halus.

5.       Masukkan adonan ke dalam kantung semprot dengan spuit bintang. Spuitkan di atas loyang dan beri jarak sekitar 2 inches (5 cm).  Olesi permukaan dengan telur yang telah dikocok.

6.       Panggang selama 20 menit lalu turunkan suhu oven ke 350 derajat F (180 drajat C).  Lanjutkan memanggang selama 30 to 35 menit atau sampai kulit soes berwarna kuning kecoklatan dan ketika dibelah, bagian dalamnya hampir kering. Matikan oven, buat irisan pada kulit soes, dan—dengan pintu oven sedikit terbuka—biarkan kulit soes dingin dan mongering bagian dalamnya.

Whipped Cream Filling

1.       Dalam mankuk besar, tuang whipping cream, ekstrak vanilla, dan gula pasir.  Aduk hingga bercampur.  Tutup dengan plastic wrap dan dinginkan mangkuk bersama kocokan mikser di dalam lemari pendingin selama sedikitnya 15 menit.

2.       Ketika sudah dingin, kocok hingga kaku.

3.       Bagi sama banyak ke dalam 4 mangkuk.  Tambahkan bubuk coklat, bubuk matcha, dan perisa stroberi. Biarkan mangkuk terakhir untuk rasa vanilla.  Tuang ke dalam kantung semprot dan dinginkan di dalam lemari pendingin sedikitnya selama 15 menit.

Menyusun Soes

1.       Belah dua kulit soes (atau belah separuh saja tidak sampai putus), dan semprotkan whipped cream. Tutup dengan kulit soes. 

2.       Beri taburan gula halus.