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! 

Cream puffs made with basic recipes from the Australian Masterchef Cookbook

Making the Choux pastry

Making the crunchy topping

Piping the pastries

Baking the pastries

Making the pastry cream

Filling the pastries

Enjoying a bite of my cream puff...

Here are the recipes (with my modification in blue)

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

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

Combine all ingredients together to form a dough. 

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.

Simple Pastry Cream from MasterChef Australia, The Cookbook Volume One

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.

Note: This amount of cream made with this recipe can only fill 12 cream puffs and so I had to make another batch the fill up the rest.

Happy Baking
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