Profiteroles AKA Cream Puffs

• Makes: ~20

• Contributor: Kate

Ingredients

Cream Puff Pastry

• 71g all purpose flour
• 118g water
• 57g unsaled butter
• .5t sugar
• pinch finely ground sea salt
• 125g large eggs, beaten (about 2.5 eggs)

Creme Patisserie

• 2c whole milk (must be whole milk!)
• 4T unsalted butter
• 1/2t salt
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 5 large egg yolks
• .5c sugar
• .25c cornstarch

Instructions

Creme Patisserie

1. In a medium saucepan add milk, butter, and salt. Scrape in vanilla seeds and add pod. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. While the milk is simmering, whilsk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until very pale and light (~3 minutes). Add cornstarch and whisk until no dry clumps remain.
3. Once the milk simmers, gradually add it to the egg mixture while whisking constantly.
4. Transfer egg and milk mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thick and holds w

hisk marks (~2 minutes).

1. Strain custard through a sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic by pressing it directly onto the surface.
2. Chill until cold, at least 2 hours.

Cream Puff Pastry

1. Preheat the oven to 425F and set the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Use a silpat and put it onto a baking sheet. If you don't have one, use parchment paper and rub flour over the parchment. The drawback to parchment is that the bottoms of the puffs won't be totally smooth. While not an eyesore, if you are going to all this effort to make these the silpat makes it very easy to help the puffs look smooth.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar, and salt and bring it to a full rolling boil. Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour all at once.
4. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball.
5. Return the pan to low heat and cook while stirring and beating the dough constantly for 3 minutes.
6. Transfer the dough to a food processor and process for 15 seconds.
7. Keep the processor running and add the eggs. Process for 30 more secondas.
8. Check for doneness. The mixture should be smooth and too soft to hold peaks but not runny. This recipe tends to be a little too stiff, so add a little extra water and pulse again until the desired consistency is obtained. When you pipe the dough out you don't want to see firm piping lines.
9. If you're using parchment, dab a little bit of dough in each corner of the baking sheet to tack the parchment paper down.
10. Put the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch pastry tube. Pipe puffs to your desired size. I usually do about 1.5 inches wide, but you could do smaller 1-inch puffs.
11. Smooth out the dough once piped by dipping a fingertip into water and smoothing the lines. You don't want to see any lines. Lines will be thin parts of the shell and may cause cracks.
12. Spray the puffs lightly with water.
13. Bake the puffs:
    1. Bake for 10 minutes. Do not open the oven!
    2. Lower heat to 350F. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown.
    3. Turn off the oven.
    4. Remove the pan from the oven, close the oven, and place the pan on a wire rack for 1 minute.
    5. Transfer the puffs to a wire rack on a baking sheet.
    6. Return puffs to the oven.
    7. Continue baking at 200F for 45 minutes.
14. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container until ready to fill. They will keep for a day in the refrigerator before filling.

CategoryRecipesDessert