Saturday 4 October 2014

Cream Puffs


Ingredients:

1. Choux Pastry

130 g all purpose flour 
1 tsp granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
114 g unsalted butter
240 ml water
4 large eggs (lightly beaten)

2.  Egg Was Glaze

1 large egg
a pinch of salt

3.  Whipped Cream

480 ml heavy whipping cream
1 tsppure vanilla extract
2 tblsp granulated white sugar

4. Garnish

Powdered (Confectioners or icing ) sugar

Method:

1.  Place the butter and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
2.  Remove from heat and with a wooden spatula, quickly add the choux pastry mixture as in ingredient (1).
3.  Return to heat and stir constantly until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a thick smooth ball. (About a minute or two)
4.  Transfer the dough into your electric mixer and beat on low speed for a minute or two to release the steam.
5.  One the dough is lukewarm, add the lightly beaten eggs and continue to mix until a smooth thick paste is formed..
6.  Spoon or pipe 12 mound of the dough onto a baking sheet, spacing them a couple of inches apart.
7.  beat together the egg and the salt for the glaze, using a pastry brush, gently brush the glaze on the top of the dough.
8.  Preheat the oven to 400oF (205oC)
9.  Bake for 15 minutes and the reduce the temperature to 350oF (177oC), bake for another 30 to 40 minutes or until the shells are nice amber color and when split, is dry inside.
10. Turn off the oven, with oven door slightly ajar, let the shells dry for 10 to 15 minutes before remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
11.  In a large mixing bowl, place ingredients (3)
12.  Cover and chill the bowl and whisk in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, whip the mixture until soft peaks form.
13.  To assemble, Split the pastry shells in half and fill with whipped cream.
14.  Place the top half of the shell on the whipped cream and dust with powdered (Confectioners or icing ) sugar.