Cream puff recipe

ITALIAN CREAM PUFFS WITH CUSTARD FILLING

A crisp pate a choux shell surrounding a lusciously creamy vanilla custard

Ingredients:

for the pastry:

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk, mixed with a tablespoon of water, for the egg wash
• Pearl sugar to top (if desired)

for the filling:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk, heavy cream, or a mix
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Make the choux pastry:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F and line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut the butter into small pieces, and put it in the saucepan over high heat with water and salt. The butter should be melted before the water is boiling but if it is not reduce the heat until the butter is completely melted.
• Take the saucepan off the heat and add all the flour.
• Stir the flour and water mixture to form a dough.

• Put the saucepan back over medium heat and stir the dough mashing it against the sides and bottom of the pan and forming it into a ball again. Continue to cook the dough for 3-5 minutes or until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan to make a ball, looks shiny and glossy, and is thick enough where you can stand a spoon upright in the middle.

• To cool the dough put it in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment and beat on medium low speed until the dough is warm to the touch.

• Whisk the three eggs into a small bowl.
• Add the eggs to the dough mixing over medium low speed in four additions. It will form back into a soft dough.
• Before adding the fourth addition of eggs check the dough to make sure it is soft, creamy colored and very smooth. It should hold its shape when it is scooped up and if you scoop it up with a spoonula and let it fall back into the bowl a V should be left on the spoonula.

• Scoop the dough onto the baking sheet making whatever shape or size you want and place them slightly apart from one another.
• Take the egg yolk mixed with water for the egg wash and brush it on tops of the puffs.
• Put them in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes and once then looked puffed lower the heat to 375°F.
• Bake for another 18-20 minutes or until the puffs are a golden brown color, dry to the touch, and are slightly puffed. They should be hollow and light.
• Decrease the heat again to 300°F and dry out the puffs even more for about 15 minutes. The inside should not be wet or eggy on the inside if you break one open.
• Poke each puff with a toothpick to let out the steam from the inside, ensuring they won’t get soggy, and put them on a cooling rack.

• Let the puffs cool down completely before adding the cream.

2. Make pastry cream:

• Pour the milk into the saucepan and let it steam but not boil.
• In a bowl whisk together the sugar, flour and salt and then add in the egg yolks once the dry ingredients are mixed together. Whisk until all the ingredients are combined thoroughly.
• Add the hot milk into the egg mixture whisking continuously.

• Put everything back into the saucepan once it is all mixed together and put a strainer on top of a bowl nearby.
• Heat the saucepan to medium heat and whisk constantly. After a few minutes the cream will begin to thicken. Once it has thickened to a pudding consistency pause whisking every couple of seconds to see if it comes to a boil. If you see large bubbles popping on the surface whisk for a few more seconds and then take the pan off of the heat.
• Stir in the vanilla then pour the pastry cream over the strainer into the bowl.

• Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap so it is touching the surface and chill completely.

3. Add the filling:

• Fill a plastic bag with the cream in order to pipe it into the pastry.

• Poke a hole into the side of the choux pastry.
• Insert the cream into the pastry.

Things we would change:

• Use two ovens because we cant cook them on the top or bottom or they will burn and our first batch half of them burned. We have so much food and the oven isn’t big enough to hold it all.
• Use the piper to create the pastry shapes.
• Not overheat the custard.
• Start the custard immediately after the pastry dough is done so it has more time to cool.

CHEMICAL EXPLANATIONS:

1. Gluten formation: When the all purpose flour is mixed with water, and mechanically kneaded, two proteins glutenin and gliadin found in the flour absorb water, and combine to form a tough, rubbery, and elastic substance known as gluten. The process of kneading the dough activates the protein, and create stronger gluten network. However, since we add butter with water before adding the flour, there is not much gluten formation as the butter which is a fatty substance hinders the formation of gluten. Also the addition of butter helps make the dough shiny, smooth and creates a non-sticky texture.
2. When adding the flour to the melted butter and water, starch gelatinization happens and thickens the mixture to form a thick paste. The flour contains starch and once this is added to hot water the intermolecular bonds of the starch breakdown and then allow for hydrogen bonding to occur and interact with the water.
3. The eggs involved in the recipe of the choux pastry contribute to the browning of the pastry. The proteins in the eggs are heated and this causes the Maillard reaction to occur which is what browns the food. Also the proteins allow for the yellow color that happens in the dough and batter.