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Choux à la Crème (French Cream Puffs)

A couple of choux a la cream on a white dessert plate.
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Choux à la crème, or French cream puffs, are made with light choux pastry, filled with silky vanilla pastry cream, and finished with icing sugar or crunchy caramel. A classic French treat for any occasion.

Ingredients

Scale

For the choux pastry:

  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 3.9 oz (110 g) unsalted butter
  • 7.9 fl oz (235 ml) water
  • 1 cup + 2 1/2 tbsp (145 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 pinch of salt

For the choux filling:

For caramel:

  • 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons water

Instructions

  1. To make choux puffs, preheat the oven to 410 degrees F (210°C). Take parchment paper and, using a pencil, draw circles of about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Then turn the paper over and place it on a baking tray or a cookie sheet. Using a flour sifter, sift the flour and place it aside. In a small separate bowl, beat eggs in an omelet using a mini whisk.
  2. Pour cold water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, and add salt and cubed butter. Bring the saucepan over medium-high heat and wait until it boils. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add sifted flour at once. Mix quickly with a wooden spoon, flattening the lumps on the go. Then bring the saucepan over low to medium heat and cook, stirring until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan.
  3. Transfer the pate au choux to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and let it cool for 3-5 minutes. To cool the dough, flatten it with a rubber spatula to increase the surface area. Or run the stand mixer at low speed for 2-3 minutes.
  4. Add lightly beaten eggs a few times, whisking the dough well after each addition with a hand whisk or an electric or stand mixer. The choux pastry dough will go from lumpy and dry to smooth and glossy.
  5. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a round tip - Ateco plain tip 804. You can use an open star pastry tip if desired. Pipe choux puffs of about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter - the walnut size - on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Make sure to space them out.
  6. Flatten the tops of the choux mounds with a silicone brush, then apply the beaten egg. Or simply use your wet finger to fold down choux pastry peaks. Bake choux puffs at 410°F (210°C) for 20 minutes, until golden brown. Don't open the oven door while baking!
  7. After that time, open the oven door, prick each shell at the bottom with a small, sharp knife, and bake for 4 to 5 minutes longer. Then, remove the shells from the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack.
  8. To make the choux puffs filling, follow the French pastry cream recipe.
  9. To assemble choux puffs, make a small hole on the bottom of each choux puff with the tip of a paring knife. Whip the pastry cream with a balloon whisk a few times. Transfer it to a pastry bag fitted with a small piping tip (Ateco plain tip 8).
  10. Insert the tip into a small hole in the back of each choux and pipe with constant pressure until filled. The choux puff is filled when you feel resistance, and the cream starts to overflow the hole. Using your finger, wipe excess pastry cream. Continue the same until all the choux cream puffs are filled. Dust with icing sugar or make the caramel topping.
  11. To make caramel topping (optional), boil sugar and water in a saucepan for about 3-5 minutes. Remove the caramel from the heat when it turns golden, then pour it into a heatproof bowl to stop cooking.
  12. Dip the choux puffs upside down into the caramel, then turn them over onto a serving plate. Add a few crushed almonds or hazelnuts to the puffs before the caramel sets if desired. Let the caramel set for a few minutes.

Notes

  1. Measure ingredients with a kitchen scale rather than measuring cups for accurate and precise baking results.
  2. Don't let the water boil for too long before adding the flour: if it evaporates, it will affect the balance of the ingredients.
  3. You can pipe choux pastry mounds with two teaspoons to form rounds of dough on the prepared baking sheet. Or use a small or medium cookie scoop if desired.
  4. Sprinkle choux pastry buns with confectioner's sugar instead of an egg wash for a crisper texture, if desired.
  5. The size of the cream puffs should be adjusted to your preferences. To make larger cream puffs and fill them with whipped cream, follow the German cream puffs recipe, which uses the sandwich-style filling technique for assembling the dessert.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/choux-a-la-creme-french-cream-puffs/