Hi everyone! Here is the recipe of the famous cream puffs, filled with a delicious custard cream whose recipe comes from Philippe Conticini, a famous French Pastry. The puffs are also filled with nice pieces of strawberries and finally topped with a nice rose of chantilly. This is super easy to realize and soooo greedy!
You can realize this recipe over several days: the crackers two days ahead and you keep it in the freezer, the puffs and the custard cream the day before, and finally you make the chantilly and assemble everything the final day.
For 20 puffs of 5cm diameter:
Choux pastry:
- 125mL of water
- 5g of sugar
- 60g of butter
- 80g of flour
- 125g of eggs (= 2 eggs and a half)
- 2g of salt
Cracker: (this will give you 28 crackers, freeze the extra for a next time)
- 50g of flour
- 50g of brown sugar
- 40g of butter
- 1 pinch of salt
Custard cream:
- 500mL of whole milk
- 80g of egg yolks (4)
- 70g of honey (or 100g of sugar)
- 20g of corn starch
- 20g of flour
- 40g of butter
- 8g of gelatin
- 1 vanilla bean
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
Chantilly:
- 300mL of liquid full cream
- 30g of icing sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
Filling:
- 500g of strawberries
For the cracker:
1. Cream the softened butter with the sugar. Take out your butter from the fridge at least one hour before beginning, it will be easier.
2. Add the flour and the salt. Stir until it forms a nice ball.
3. Roll out the ball between two parchment papers to a 2mm maximum thickness. (careful not to roll out too thin because it will burn in the oven before the puffs are cooked).
4. Cut circles of 4cm diameter. Take the scraps and roll out again. If the cracker is too soft to work with, refrigerate a few minutes. When you’ve cut all your circles, refrigerate until use or freeze them if you make them in advance.
For the choux pastry:
1. In a saucepan, put the water, the butter cut into pieces, the sugar and the salt. Bring to boil over medium heat. The butter should have melted before it boils.
2. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour in one time. Stir until it is incorporated.
3. Put it back on low heat and stir for a few minutes to eliminate the moisture of the dough. It’s ready when the dough is smooth and forms a ball that doesn’t separate into chunks.
4. Put the dough in another container and let it cool for a few minutes. Add the eggs, previously beaten, little by little. You can use a spatula or the flat beater of a stand mixer. To know if you’ve added enough eggs, take a bit of paste with your spatula and it should form a smooth and shiny collar. You can also trace a line in the dough with the back of your spatula, if it closes slowly, it’s perfect. If it doesn’t close you must add a bit more eggs.
5. Put your paste in a pastry bag with a plain nozzle and pip circles of 4cm diameter. Add the cracker on top of it.
6. Cook for 20-25 minutes in a preheated oven at 180°C (fan-assissted if possible, otherwise, normal). During the first 20 minutes, don’t open the oven door, because it will make your choux fallen down. After 20 minutes, you can check if your choux are cooked, the choux and the crackers should have a nice golden color without any white spots. If you have time, reduce the oven temparature to 140°C and let the choux inside for 15 to 20 minutes. This will dry your choux and they will stay crunchy even after filling them with the cream.
For the custard cream:
1. Place the gelatin in 6 times its weight in water, so in 48g of water. Let it for 15min.
2. In a saucepan, bring to simmering point the milk with the vanilla bean and the vanilla extract.
3. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the honey until it slightly whitens.
4. Add the sifted flour and the corn starch.
5. Once the milk have simmered, pour two third of it gradually on the egg mixture while whisking. Return the mixture in the saucepan and cook on low heat until it boils. When the cream boils, cook for one more minute to remove the flour taste.
6. Remove from the heat and add the gelatin and the very cold butter.
7. Put the cream in a pan and wrap it with cling film. The film must touch the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for minimum 4 hours, the best is to realize it the day before.
Last thing, the whipped cream:
- In a bowl place the liquid cream and begin to whip it at low speed. Gradually increase the speed.
- When the cream begins to form, add the icing sugar and whip at maximum speed. Whip until the cream is firm enough.
- Place it in the fridge until use.
It’s already time to assemble everything!
- Take your custard cream and whip it at maximum speed for a few minutes to incorporate as much air as possible.
2. Cut the top of the puff and place some stawberries, cut in small cubes, at the bottom. Cover with custard cream.
3. Place more strawberries on top of the custard cream. Finally, with a star nozzle, poach a nice rosette of whipped cream on the top.
4. Cover with the head of the puff and sprinkle with icing sugar.
It’s ready to be eaten! You can keep them in the fridge up to two days maximum.
Don’t forget to write an email to partage@justonemorecake.com to share your pictures of the recipe and your opinions! I will add them at the bottom of this article.
