I was going to call these Cream Puffs, but my daughter insisted that these are cream sandwiches ! She said cream puffs should have a hole to fill the cream inside the puffs… OK, OK… So, now I call them Choux Pastry puffs ! Whatever it’s called, they look cute and are absolutely delicious ! (Actually I think Choux Pastry Puffs sounds fancier !) They will be a perfect dessert for your upcoming holiday dinners!
Makes about 16 puffs
- 200 mL water
- 90 g unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 30 g granulated or vanilla sugar
- 120 g all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar, plus more for dusting, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 50 g semi-sweet chocolate (melted), for drizzling
- To prepare the whipped cream, place a mixing bowl into freezer for about 15 minutes
- Using an electric mixer, whisk together whipping cream, 2 tablespoons of icing sugar and vanilla, in the cold mixing bowl, until stiff peak is formed
- Refrigerate until use
- To prepare the choux paste, heat together water, butter, salt and granulated or vanilla sugar in a pot over medium heat until just starting to boil
- Turn heat down to low, add flour all at once
- Stirring constantly, cook until a thin film of paste formed at the bottom of the pot, about 5 minutes
- Transfer paste to a heat-proofed mixing bowl and cool down
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350ºF and prepare piping bag with desired piping tip
- Add eggs to paste, one at a time and mix well after each addition
- Transfer to piping bag and pipe into rounds on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, no bigger than 2 inches in diameter
- Bake at 350ºF for about 12-14 minutes until starting to brown, turn heat down to 325°F and bake for another 15 minutes until golden (if puffs are under baked, they will collapse after taken out)
- Turn heat off, leave puffs inside oven for about 15 -20 minutes with oven door ajar
- Take puffs out, let cool on baking sheets, then completely on rack
- Cut puffs in halves, fill centres with whipped cream
- Drizzle with melted chocolate and dust with icing sugar, serve immediately