Extraordinaire Cream Puffs (with light cream filling): the other French pastry trend after macarons

Some cream puffs can be too heavy and too rich. In this recipe, I am using a light cream filling that makes these Cream Puffs just exceptional. Once you eat one, you want another one then another one.
In fact, this recipe is the result of Laduree -Paris French Pastry shop- (for the cream filling) and David Lebovitz -an American Pastry chef who lives in Paris, France- (for the choux pastry).I swear this will be one of your best French dessert….

The “choux” part is pretty easy, I teach kids to make chouquettes, choux and eclairs in my baking classes.
The more difficult may be the cream. Be sure you have enough time to be in front of your stove and not texting someone….the only requirement is to be focused while making it and reading well the recipe  from A to Z.

Bon Appetit mes amis, regalez vous.

Cream Puffs

About 15 Puffs

(Adapted from David Lebovitz recipe)

• 1 cup  water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• Powdered or icing sugar
• 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper .
• 2. Heat the water, salt, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and dump all the flour in at once. Stir rapidly until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
• 3. Allow dough to cool for two minutes, then beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth and shiny.
• 4. Using two spoons, scoop up with one tablespoon roughly, and scrape it off with the other spoon onto the baking sheet.
• 5. Place the mounds evenly-spaced apart on the baking sheet.
• 6. Bake the cream puffs for 35 minutes, or until puffed and well-browned.
• (If you want to make them crispier, you can poke a hole in the side with a knife after you take them out of the oven to let the steam escape.

 Light Pastry Cream
(From Sucre: Recipes from Ladurée Paris via http://www.insanitytheory.net)

• 1 vanilla bean
• 400mL whole-fat milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 80 caster sugar
• 30g corn starch
• 25g unsalted butter
• 1 cup double cream

1. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, then add the corn starch and whisk till mixture becomes pale yellow and thickened.
2. Set aside and scrape the vanilla into the milk and bring to a simmer.
3. Slowly pour the milk into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream while constantly beating.
4. Pour back into the saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking, making sure to scrape down the sides.
5. Leave the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes so that it’s no longer boiling, then briskly whisk in the butter till the mixture is smooth and glossy.
6.  Scrape the mixture into a non-reactive bowl and keep tightly covered with plastic wrap till ready to use. Once you’re ready to fill the puffs, beat the cream to firm peaks then carefully mix together the cream and the pastry cream with a spatula.
7. Fill a piping bag with the mixture then pipe each puff with the pastry cream in three places and dust with icing sugar before serving!

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