A beginner's guide to making perfect cream puffs with choux pastry & classic chantilly cream. These cream puffs are a delicious and impressive dessert! And so easy to make with this step by step recipe.EASY - Easy recipe for beginners. With a detailed guide on how to make perfect choux pastry. The filling is a simple whipped cream, which is also easy. US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Common Measurement Conversions. Weight measurements are recommended for accurate results.
2tspgood quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
¼tspsea saltuse less if you’re using table salt
To serve
Confectioner's sugar
Instructions
Choux pastry
Preheat oven to 375°F (conventional oven).
Place salt, water, sugar (if using), and butter in a saucepan, and heat over medium high heat, stirring occasionally to melt the butter, salt, and sugar.
When the water is starting to boil (butter should be melted at this point), remove the pot from the heat, and immediately add the flour in one go and vigorously mix the flour in so that it absorbs all of the water. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to do this.
When the flour has absorbed the water and it's coming together to form a dough, return the pan to the stove (medium heat).
Cook the dough for 1 – 3 minutes (over medium heat). Mix the dough and move it around in the pan until you get a dough that easily pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a film on the bottom of the pan (if using a stainless steel pan). It should look like a lump of smooth mashed potatoes. (The cook time will vary depending on your stove top.)
Transfer the dough into a bowl and let it cool down slightly for about 1 - 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract (if using), and mix it in. You can use a spatula / wooden spoon, a hand-held mixer (or whisk), or even a stand mixer to do this.
Place the eggs in a bowl or jug, and whisk well.
Add about 1 amount of egg (¼ cup) to the dough, and mix well until it’s fully incorporated into the dough.
Keep adding the eggs in small increments, mixing well in between, until you have the right consistency (i.e. a dough with a glossy sheen and pipeable consistency.) You may not use all of the eggs, so keep an eye on the dough to prevent adding too much of the eggs.
Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.
Place the dough in a large piping bag that's attached with a large tip (½ inch round tip or ½ in French star tip).
Pipe mounds of the dough on the parchment paper, with about 1.5 - 2 inches of space between each. Pipe the dough at a 90° angle (to the baking tray), making sure to keep the piped dough as smooth as possible. Twist the piping bag and lift it up after piping a pastry mound to get a clean finish. Then flatten the tip of the pastry mound with a dampened finger. Aim for medium sized puffs where the piped mounds are about 1.5 - 2 inches in width, and about 1 - 1.5 inches in height.
Bake for 30 – 40 minutes in the center of your preheated oven, or until the choux pastry shells puff up and are golden brown on top. Do not open the oven door, at least until you have reached the 25 minute mark. Importantly, the baking time depends on the size of your pastry shells. If you prefer a drier shell, bake for a couple of minutes longer.
During the last 5 – 10 minutes of baking, prick each shell with a skewer or toothpick and let them dry out in the oven while baking.
Remove from the oven, and prick the cases again, and let the choux pastry cases cool slightly in a draft-free area. (Letting them cool in an open but switched off oven is even better, but not necessary).
Place the pastry cases on a wire rack to cool completely.
Prepare the filling, while the choux pastry cases are cooling.
OR you can store cooled choux pastry shells in an air-tight container for up to one day. To store them for longer, freeze them in an air-tight container.
Stabilized whipped cream (chantilly cream) - see recipe notes for quantity
In a small microwave-safe bowl, place the water, and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface of the water. Make sure all the gelatin is saturated with water, and then let it sit for at least 10 minutes to bloom.
In a large bowl, place the heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir to combine. Have it ready to be whisked with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer by the time the gelatin is ready.
After 10 minutes, microwave the gelatin in 10 second intervals to dissolve it. Do NOT let the gelatin mixture boil.
Stir in the 1 tbsp of cold cream or milk.
Start whisking the heavy cream mixture on high speed, and add the gelatin into it. Do NOT add the gelatin directly onto the whisk. Instead, add it where the cream is moving quickly due to whisking action. Alternatively, as soon as you add the gelatin, move the mixer around in the cream to make sure that the gelatin is mixed in well. The idea is to get the gelatin mixed into the cream as fast as possible, without it touching the whisk when added.
Lower the mixer speed to medium (or medium high), and whisk the heavy cream until you have stiff peaks. Keep a close eye on it since the cream can go from stiff peaks to broken in a matter of seconds.
Place the whipped chantilly cream in a large pastry bag, attached with a star tip (to create swirls), or with a round tip / bismarck tip (to fill).
Cream puffs with swirled chantilly cream filling
Cut the upper ⅓ of the choux puff with a sharp knife to create a “lid”.
Fill the bottom part of the pastry with a swirl of chantilly cream. Place the “lid” back on top. Repeat with all the pastry puffs and then dust them with confectioner’s sugar. Now they are ready to be served.
Filled cream puffs
Make a hole in the bottom of each choux puff. You can either use a small knife to cut an “x” to create an opening, OR use a small French star pastry tip to cut a small hole.
Insert the piping tip into the hole and fill the choux puff with chantilly cream. Repeat with all the puffs. Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.
Video
Notes
If you're having trouble with choux pastry -
Please check out this comprehensive guide linked here. Many beginners have followed my recipe + tips in this post with great success on their first attempt!
A note about the chantilly cream filling
This recipe makes enough for about 20 - 25 cream puffs, IF you make them the way they look in the pictures (swirled filling). However, if you're only filling the cream puffs from the bottom, then you will need a lot less filling. Any leftover whipped cream can be served with fruits.
How far in advance can I make cream puffs?
Cream puffs are best served within a few hours of being filled.You can make the choux puffs a day ahead, and then re-crisp them in the oven before filling with the chantilly cream.Stabilized whipped cream can also be made a day ahead, but may need to be re-mixed with a dash of cream to make it smooth again.I prefer to make both the pastry and filling on the same day, but to save time, I might make the choux dough the day before and store it in an uncut pastry bag that is sealed with a rubber band (the dough should not be exposed to any air!).
Storing choux pastry / cream puffs for longer
The best way to store choux pastry is to freeze baked and UNFILLED cases in an air-tight container. When you’re ready to fill them, reheat the cases in the oven to make them crisp again. Once cooled, they can be filled and served.If you do have filled cream puffs that are leftover, these can be placed in an air-tight container and frozen too. I find that they become stale in the fridge very quickly, so I always prefer to store leftovers in the freezer. Since the filling is so light, the cream puffs de-frost at room temperature pretty quickly.To dress up your leftover cream puffs, serve them with a berry coulis, salted caramel sauce, or chocolate ganache.