Hi everyone! Today’s recipe is a new recipe of puffs, and this time, it’s pistachio puffs. They are made up of a crunchy choux pastry, filled with a delicious pistachio custard cream, some pistachio praline and vanilla whipped cream. This is not a hard recipe to make and you can spread the different preparation over several days like that:
D-2: The cracker for the puffs (you can even make it weeks in advance and freeze it) + the praline
D-1: The custard cream + the choux pastry
D-Day: The whipped cream + the assembly
For 20 puffs of 5cm once baked :
Choux pastry :
- 125mL of water
- 5g of sugar
- 60g of butter
- 80g of flour
- 125g of whole eggs (= 2,5)
- 2g of salt
Cracker: this is for 28 crackers, you can freeze the surplus for a next time.
- 50g of flour
- 50g of sugar
- 40g of butter
- 1 pinch of salt
Pistachio custard cream:
- 500mL of whole milk
- 80g of egg yolks ( = 4)
- 100g of sugar (or honey)
- 20g of corn starch
- 20g of flour
- 40g of butter
- 8g of powdered gelatin (or 4 sheets of 2g)
- 50g of pistachio paste
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
Whipped cream:
- 300mL of full liquid cream
- 30g of icing sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
Praline :
- 80g of pistachios
- 54g of sugar
- 13g of water
- a small pinch of salt
Let’s begin with the praline: (you can make it a few days in advance)
1. Roast the pistachios 10-15min at 150°C.
2. In a saucepan, heat the water and the sugar until it reaches 116°C.
3. Add the pistachios and mix. A thin layer of sugar will coat the pistachios, keep stirring until all the sugar caramelizes. You can lower the heat if it caramelizes too fast.
4. Spread them on a pan covered with parchment paper, or a silicone mat, and let it cool down.
5. Place the chunks in a food processor and mix until you get a smooth paste. I find that the pistachio praline is less runny than the almond or hazelnut one.
6. Pour it in a jar and refrigerate until use.
Now let’s make 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 it 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. 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.
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 pipe 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-assisted if possible, otherwise, normal). During the first 20 minutes, don’t open the oven door, because it will make your puffs fall down. After 20 minutes, you can check if they are cooked, the dough and the crackers should have a nice golden color without any white spots. If you have time, reduce the oven temperature to 140°C and let the puffs inside for 15 to 20 minutes. This will dry them a bit and they will stay crunchy even after filling them with the cream.
Finally, the custard cream:
1. Hydrate the powdered gelatin in 6 times its weight in cold water.
2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar (or honey) until it whitens.
3. Add the corn starch and the flour.
4. Heat the milk until it boils.
5. Pour two third of the hot milk in 2 times over the egg mixture.
6. Bring everything back to the saucepan and cook it over medium heat, while whisking, until it boils. After the cream boils, cook it one more minute to make sure the taste of the flour is gone.
7. Off the heat, add the hydrated gelatin and the pistachio paste.
8. Place it in a dish and cover with cling film (the film must touch the surface). Refrigerate minimum 4 hours (you can make it the day before).
It’s time to assemble everything:
1. Take your custard cream out of the fridge and whip it at maximum speed for 2-3min to incorporate a lot of air and make it super light.
2. Whip the full liquid cream by increasing the speed progressively. When the cream begins to thicken, add the icing sugar and the vanilla extract and whip at high speed. The cream must stick to the whisk.
3. Cut the top of the puff and fill the bottom with custard cream.
4. Add some praline and pip a generous amount of whipped cream using a star tip nozzle. Cover the puff and sprinkle with icing sugar.
Your pistachio 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.
