Cream Puffs

The foundation of the perfect cream puff is light, airy pâte à choux, which is made with eggs, flour, and butter. Once the cream puffs are shaped and baked, they’re filled with a rich homemade pastry cream.

Components

  • Pate a Choux

  • Pastry Cream

Directions

  • 1 batch Pata Choux

  • 1 batch Pastry Cream

↓ This recipe consists of the following components ↓

Pate a Choux

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water

  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (cut into 1/2-inch pieces)

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

  • 1 cup all purpose flour (unbleached)

  • 4 eggs

Directions

  • Heat oven to 425°F.

  • In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt, and granulated sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds to evaporate some of the moisture.

  • Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, and working 1 egg at a time, add 3 of the eggs, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining egg and mix until incorporated.

  • Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the dough onto the baking sheet, in 2-inch diameter rounds or balls. Whisk the remaining egg with 1 1/2 teaspoons water. Brush the surface of the rounds with the egg wash to knock down the points (you may not use all the egg wash). Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until puffed up, and light golden brown, about 20 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet.

Pastry Cream

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole milk

  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch

  • 1/8 teaspoon salt

  • Yolks from 4 large eggs, straight from the fridge

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Directions

  • In a 2-quart stainless steel saucer, combine milk and vanilla along with its seeds. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat.

  • Stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in egg yolks until mixture is pale yellow, smooth, and fluffy, about 1 minute.

  • Add a small amount of the milk mixture and stir to “temper” the eggs. Continue to add in small amounts until fully incorporated. Whisk together.

  • Return the mixture to the same saucier. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until pastry cream begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.

  • Off-heat, whisk in butter until melted and thoroughly combined. Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve set over a heatproof medium bowl. Immediately place plastic wrap or buttered parchment paper directly on the surface of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

  • When ready to use the pastry cream, whisk until smooth.