Cream Puffs

 Cream Puffs | Karri Perry Blue Ribbon Favorites

These sweet dessert bites only take a few minutes to make and assemble.  Save time by making the cream filling ahead so it has plenty of time to chill.  Simply refrigerate the cream until ready to assemble.

Bake at 400 degrees-10 minutes AND 325 degrees for 20 minutes: Total Bake time 30 minutes.  Bake on the middle oven rack.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter 
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
extra egg and water for egg wash

Directions

In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, add the milk, water, sugar, salt, and butter.  Let the butter melt, and bring the mixture to a boil.  Using a wooden spoon stir in 1 cup of flour.  Stir until well combined (about 30-40 seconds) and the mixture begins to leave a haze on the bottom of the pan.  The best way I can describe the haze...is like a film of flour.

Transfer the hot flour mixture to a bowl.  Add 4 eggs, adding one at a time.  Stir well between each egg.  The mixture may look gummy-as you begin to stir in each egg--just keep stirring with the wooden spoon.  After the final egg is added and stirred in, the dough will look like a thick-sticky paste.  

In a large piping bag, fitted with a large open decorator tip, fill the bag with the prepared dough.

On a parchment-lined baking sheet, pipe the dough into 2-inch circles, slightly mounded 1/2 inch high. Space the cream puffs at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.  Make sure that all the cream puffs are roughly the same size, so they will bake at the same rate-- if there is a row of big puffs next to a tiny row of puffs--they won't get done baking at the same time. Decide the size and keep the whole tray the same size.  **If you choose to make slightly larger cream puffs, please adjust the baking time to accommodate the change.  Larger puffs will require a few extra minutes of baking.

If puffs have a pointy top from piping- use a wet fingertip to smooth the dough.

Before baking, mix together 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water-mix well.  Brush each puff lightly with the egg wash.  The egg wash helps the puff to look shiny and golden when they are finished baking.  All of the egg wash will not be used.

Bake cream puffs on the middle rack of a preheated 400-degree oven for 10 minutes.  Without opening the oven door, turn down the oven to 325 and bake for 20 minutes more-- cream puffs will be a light golden brown and very light and hollow when done.  If puffs look overly brown, gently rest a piece of aluminum foil on top of the baking sheet for the last 5-7 minutes of baking.

When puffs are removed from the oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Cream Filling

3/4 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

·         ¼  teaspoon salt

·         2 cups milk (whole or 2%)

·         4 large egg yolks 

     

       1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

      2 Tablespoons butter

(Make-Ahead) Vanilla Cream Filling Directions: 

      In a medium saucepan off of the heat, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.   Add the egg yolks to the milk and lightly whisk to combine.  Add the milk/egg mixture to the sugar/cornstarch/salt and stir well.

Place the saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  The mixture will begin to thicken as it is heated.  Bring to a boil, whisking constantly.  Boil for one minute.  Turn off heat.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter vanilla.

Stir until all of the butter has melted and the mixture is glossy and smooth.  Let cool, refrigerate until well chilled.

Whipped Cream Topping:
·         1 ½ cups heavy cream
·         ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
·         ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Place heavy whipping cream into a medium bowl with vanilla and sugar.  Mix on low for 3 minutes, then increasing the speed to high until thickened. Reserve 1 cup of the whipped cream to add to chilled vanilla cream. Use the rest of the whipped cream for the filling and garnish.

Stir the prepared chilled vanilla cream to loosen, fold in one cup of the prepared whipped cream to lighten.  

      In a large piping bag, fill the bag with the vanilla cream-whipped cream mixture.  Using a serrated knife-cut each puff horizontally through the middle. OR to fill the puffs, use a filling tip, poke a small hole in the bottom or side and fill each puff with the filling.  Place the tops, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cream puffs can also be filled with just the sweetened whipped cream, topped with chocolate sauce, fresh fruit, or caramel sauce.

When preparing ahead, place the filled cream puffs in the refrigerator until ready to serve, add the sprinkle of confectioner's sugar or drizzle of sauces just before serving. 

      If waiting to fill the puffs, store the baked and cooled puffs in an air-tight container, until ready to assemble.