The first step is the choux pastry shell. This involves bringing water, salt, butter, and a tiny bit of sugar to a boil and quickly beating in flour until you make a paste. This paste needs to cook just a bit and dry out just a bit before it is transferred to a mixing bowl and the eggs are added.
Eggs are added to the flour paste to form an emulsion. When you first add them, they will look like a sloppy mess, but as you continue to mix, the lecithin in the egg yolk will help bring the different parts together in an emulsion. The dough should be mixed until it is glossy and starts to be stiff. This helps give it the appropriate structure.
Once the choux batter is ready, prepare a pastry bag with a large plain tip. I use a silicon pastry bag with tip adaptors. It is much better than the plastic disposable ones, because it is more robust and larger. This choux pastry is somewhat thick and can burst the thin disposable plastic pastry bags.
For mini puffs, pipe balls that are about 1″ in diameter, and leave 1/2 to 1′ between each ball. For bigger puffs, pipe balls that are about 2″ in diameter and leave about 2 inches between each ball.
You will have little pointy tops from the piping process. Moisten your fingers with water and gently push them down to make the tops more round. Don’t worry if they don’t look perfect. They will smooth out a lot while they are baking.
These little pastries are ready to go into the oven. You start with a hot oven 425 degrees Fahrenheit). This is an important part of the baking process, as it will lead to rapid heating of the liquid (from the eggs and water) in the choux pastry. When the liquid is heated, it will turn to steam, and that is the leavening agent in this pastry. Steam expands when it is heated, so it will push on the outer parts of the dough, causing it to expand. This quick expansion of dough is known as oven spring, and is an important part of all leavened products.
After the dough has had its first quick expansion, you will need to turn the oven down so that the insides can cook without overcooking the outside. Fir mini puffs, turn the oven down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit after 10 minutes; for bigger puffs, do this after 15 minutes. The starches in the dough will start to gelatinize and the proteins will start to denature and coagulate as the cooking continues and the gases continue to expand. You may be tempted to open the oven door and check on the progress, but you should not open the door until the puffs have been cooking for at least 20 minutes. Opening the oven door can change the temperature quickly, and if the dough structure hasn’t had time to set, you may end up with puffs that collapse.
You want the final puffs to be nice and dry, with no soggy interior. This will help ensure that the puffs will maintain their shape as they (and the gases inside of them) cool. The amount of time that it take to reach golden brown and dry will depend on how big they are.
Allow the puffs to cool completely on the baking sheet. I put the sheet on a cooling rack, to allow circulation below. If you remove the puffs from the baking sheet too soon, you can disrupt the shell structure, which can cause the shells to collapse.
When you’re ready to fill the puffs, poke a hole in the bottom of the puffs by putting a plain tip on your finger and gently inserting it in the bottom. This will help keep any shell bits out of the pastry as you fill them later.
For the filling, you can either use 1 small package instant pudding mixed with 1 cup (240 ml) milk or 1 cup creme patissiere. For either version, whip 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold about 1/3 of the whipped cream into the base to lighten it. When that is incorporated, gently fold in the remaining 2/3.
Use a clean tip and fill your pastry bag with whichever lightened filling you prepared. I use a medium tip for the mini puffs and a large tip for bigger puffs. Gently squeeze filling into the puff from the hole that you made in the bottom. Be careful to not overfill the puffs, or they will burst.
Before serving, dust the puffs with powdered sugar. You can use a powdered sugar shaker or a fine-mesh sieve; either works well.
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Ingredients
- Puff Shells
1 cup (240 ml) water
1 stick (117 g) butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
- Filling
OR 1 cup (240 ml) creme patissiere OR 3 ounce package vanilla pudding plus 1 cup (240 ml) chilled milk
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) heavy whipping cream
- Topping
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425º F. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper.
- To make the choux pastry for the cream puffs, bring the water, butter, salt, and sugar to a roiling boil over medium-high heat. Turn heat to low.
- Add flour, all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until well-incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Move mixture into a mixing bowl. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment.
- Turn mixer on to medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, until completely incorporated. If needed, stop mixer to scrape the side of the bowl down. After all eggs are incorporated, beat for 30 seconds to 1 minute more, until mixture is glossy. The dough is mixed enough if you run your finger through the dough, and it leaves a furrow.
- Transfer dough into a pastry bag with a large plain tip. For mini puffs, pipe into 1″ diameter balls, leaving 1/2-1″ between balls. For bigger puffs, pipe into 2″ diameter balls, leaving 2″ between balls. Dip your fingers in water and smooth the pointy tips down into the dough.
- For mini puffs, bake for 10 minutes. For larger puffs, bake for 15 Do not open the oven until the shells have been baking for at least 20 minutes.
- Cool on baking sheet until completely cook. Shells may be stored tightly covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or in tightly covered in the freezer for up to a month.
- When you are ready to eat the cream puffs, make the filling. You can use a creme patissiere lightened with whipped cream, or you can use instant pudding lightened with whipped cream.
- Whip the cream to stiff peaks using the whisk attachment if using a stand mixer.
- Whisk the creme patissiere pudding into the milk and stir well to combine. When pudding is combined, add to whipped cream and beat on medium until well combined and fluffy, about 30 seconds to a minute.
- Poke a hole in the bottom of each cream puff with a plain pastry tip.
- Add the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a medium plain tip for mini puffs or a large plain tip for larger puffs. Pipe filling into the completely cooled puffs through the hole that you poked through the bottom.
- Dust with powdered sugar.
- Filled puffs should be eaten within a few hours or may be stored tightly covered in the freezer for up to a month. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.