Hi everyone! Here’s a new recipe of very greedy puffs! These are filled with lemon cremeux and topped with some praline cremeux and pure lemon praline! This is a very delicious combination of flavors, the acidity of the lemon goes perfectly with the sweetness of the praline. You can spread the different preparations over several days to make it very easy!

For 10 small Puffs (3cm raw and 5cm cooked):

Choux pastry:

• 50mL of water
• 2g of sugar
• 24g of butter
• 32g of flour
• 50g of whole eggs (1)
• 0,8g of salt

Craquelin:

• 35g of flour
• 35g of brown sugar (or white)
• 28g of butter
• 1 pinch of salt

Lemon Praline:

• 58g of almonds
• 58g of hazelnuts
• 75g of granulated sugar
• 18g of water
• 1 pinch of salt
• 6g of dried lemon zests (= the zest of ~1 lemon)

Lemon Cremeux:

• 75g of whole eggs
• 70g of granulated sugar
• 70g of lemon juice
• 82,5g of butter
• 1,5g of powdered gelatin (or sheets)

Praline Cremeux:

• 100g of whole milk
• 26g of egg yolks
• 20g of granulated sugar
• 10g of flour
• 60g of praline
• 40g of butter
• 1,33g of powdered gelatin (or sheets)

Let’s get started!

We’ll start with the lemon praline:

1. Peel the lemon and try not to take too much of the white part. Cut the skin into thin slices and place them over a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 70°C/158°F and cook for ~1h30. The peels should break easily.

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2. Roast the almonds and hazelnuts in a 180°C/356°F preheated oven for 10-15min until they have a golden color.

3. In a saucepan, place the sugar, the salt and the water. Cook until it reaches 116°C/240°F.

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4. Add the roasted nuts and stir. Cook over medium heat. A thin layer of white sugar will coat the nuts. Keep cooking until all the white sugar caramelizes.

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5. Spread the nuts over a silicone mat (or a greased tray) and let them cool down.

6. Then, place 6g of the dried lemon peels into a food-processor. Blend.

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7. Add the caramelized nuts and mix until you get a smooth and liquidy paste.

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8. Keep in a jar until use.

For the praline cremeux (it’s better to make it the day before):

1. Hydrate the powdered gelatin in 6 times its weight in cold water. Let it sit for 10min.

2. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until it slightly whitens. Add the flour.

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3. Bring to boil the milk. Pour the boiling milk in 3 times over the egg mixture. Mix vigorously.

4. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, while stirring regularly, until it reaches 84°C/183°F. Make sure to also reach the bottom of the saucepan.

5. Off the heat, add the hydrated gelatin and 60g of the previously made praline. Keep the rest of the praline in a jar for later.

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6. Wait until the temperature goes down to 40°C/104°F (at room-temperature it takes ~30-40min). Add the butter cut into small pieces and mix with a hand blender.

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7. Wrap with cling film (it must touch the surface) and refrigerate at least 4h (the best is overnight).

For the lemon cremeux (I also make it the day before):

1. Hydrate the gelatin.

2. In a saucepan, combine the eggs with the lemon juice, the zests and the sugar.

3. Cook over medium heat, while stirring, until it reaches 84°C/183°F.

4. Off the heat, add the hydrated gelatin.

5. Wait until the temperature goes down to 35°C/95°F. Add the butter cut into small pieces and mix with a hand blender.

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6. Wrap with cling film (it must touch the surface) and refrigerate at least 4h (the best is overnight).

For the craquelin:

1. Cream the softened butter with the sugar. Take your butter out of the fridge at least 1h30 before beginning, it will be easier. Add the flour and the salt. Stir until it forms a nice ball.

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2. Roll it out between two parchment papers to a 3mm thickness (be careful not to roll it out too thinly because it may burn in the oven before the puffs are cooked).

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3. Cut circles of 4cm diameter. Take the scraps and roll out again. If the craquelin is too soft to work with, you can freeze it for a few minutes. When you’ve cut all your circles, you can either refrigerate them until use or freeze them if you make them in advance.

For the choux pastry:

1. Put the water, the butter cut into pieces, the sugar and the salt in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. The butter must melt before it boils.

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2. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour in one time. Stir until it is incorporated.

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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. You can also see at the bottom of the pan that a thin layer of dough will form.

4. Put the dough in another container and let it cool down 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 fitted with a large plain tip (14-16mm) and pipe circles of 3cm diameter. Add the craquelin (previously made) on top of it.

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6. Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F and cook the puffs for about 20min. The puffs must be golden without white spots left. You can open the oven after 15min.

7. Let the puffs cool down on a grid.

It’s time to assemble!

1. Whisk the lemon cremeux for a few seconds and then place it in a pastry bag fitted with a small tip.

2. Do the same with the praline cremeux but this time the tip must be a flower tip (or an open-star tip).

3. Also place 40g of praline in a pastry bag with no tip.

4. Create a hole at the bottom of each puff.

5. Fill them generously with the lemon cremeux.

6. On the top, pipe a nice crown of praline cremeux. Pipe some lemon praline in the middle.

Your lemon and praline puffs are ready! Enjoy!

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. If you have any questions please leave a comment!

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