Cream Puffs (MasterChef)
These
mini cream puffs are super addictive! After I had my first cream puff, I
kept popping more into my mouth... then, I realised that I have been
eating 5 cream puffs all within the last five minutes!
Both pastry and cream are very light in texture and they are very well balanced and delicious in combination. For an extra texture to my cream puffs, I have added crunchy toppings for more than half of my pastries and I think that they are even better than the plain traditional Choux pastry. In our house, the pastries with crunchy toppings were all gone first before the plain ones.
Both Choux pastry and pastry cream recipes are the basic recipes, published in MasterChef Australia, The Cookbook Volume One. These recipes are quite fail-proof and easy to follow but I've spotted a typo error in Choux pastry recipe and I have corrected it as accordingly. So, no worries!
Both pastry and cream are very light in texture and they are very well balanced and delicious in combination. For an extra texture to my cream puffs, I have added crunchy toppings for more than half of my pastries and I think that they are even better than the plain traditional Choux pastry. In our house, the pastries with crunchy toppings were all gone first before the plain ones.
Both Choux pastry and pastry cream recipes are the basic recipes, published in MasterChef Australia, The Cookbook Volume One. These recipes are quite fail-proof and easy to follow but I've spotted a typo error in Choux pastry recipe and I have corrected it as accordingly. So, no worries!
Here I am killing two birds with one stone again... As I'm using the recipes from MasterChef Cookbook, I'm linking this post to two events, Bake-along (with Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen wings) and Cook like a Star (MasterChef).
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| Cream puffs made with basic recipes from the Australian Masterchef Cookbook |
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| Making the Choux pastry |
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| Making the crunchy topping |
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| Piping the pastries |
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| Baking the pastries |
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| Making the pastry cream |
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| Filling the pastries |
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| Enjoying a bite of my cream puff... |
Simple Choux Pastry from MasterChef Australia, The Cookbook Volume One
Makes 24 profiteroles
50 g butter, chopped
3/4 cup (115 g) plain flour
3 eggs
Method
Preheat the oven to 210°C (190°C fan-forced). Line 2 large baking trays
with non-stick baking paper. Place the butter in a large saucepan and
add 3/4 cup (185 ml) water. Cook over medium heat until the butter has
melted and the mixture comes to the boil. Sift the flour into the pan
and beat with a wooden spoon over the heat for about 1 min, until the
mixture comes away from the sides of the pan.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and cool slightly, stirring to release the heat. Add the yolk (Typo error! - It should be egg)
one at a time, beating well with electric beaters between each
addition, until the mixture is very thick and glossy. To make
profiteroles, drop level tablespoons of the mixture onto the trays,
leaving 5 cm between them.
Bake for 20-25 mins until puffed and golden brown. Using a skewer,
pierce a small hole in the side of each puff. Return to the oven, turn
off and prop the door ajar. Leave to cool.
To fill the profiteroles, pierce a hole in the side. Fill a piping bag with simple pastry cream.
Note: Using this recipe and Wilton 21 piping tip, I can piped out 32 mini pastries and have 2-3 tbsp of excess batter as leftover.
Crunchy Profiteroles Topping, mostly adapted from a William Angliss short course that I attended
Note: Using this recipe and Wilton 21 piping tip, I can piped out 32 mini pastries and have 2-3 tbsp of excess batter as leftover.
Crunchy Profiteroles Topping, mostly adapted from a William Angliss short course that I attended
Makes 25 toppings
50g butter, soften
60g brown sugar
60g cake flour (mine has 8% protein content)
vanilla seeds from 1/4 of vanilla pod
Shape the dough into a log. Wrap it with cling wrap and allow it to rest in fridge for at least an hour.
When ready to use, cut it into thin slices (about 2mm thick) and place each slice on top of the piped pastry. Bake pastry according to the above Choux pastry instructions.
Makes about 1 cup (250 ml)
(to fill 12 profiteroles)
200 ml milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
20g butter
Method
Stir the milk and vanilla bean in a small saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling. Remove bean.
Meanwhile, whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl until thick
and pale. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture. Return the
mixture to a clean saucepan. Whisk over a medium heat until the custard
boils and thickens. Spread over a tray to cool rapidly. Cover the
surface of the custard with cling film to prevent a skin forming.
When the mixture has cooled to 55°C, transfer it to a bowl and stir through the butter.
Refrigerate to cool completely.
Refrigerate to cool completely.
