I can’t think of anything more tempting than these homemade Cream Puffs. Light-as-a-feather choux pastry, filled with whipped cream and dusted with icing sugar. Forget about diets – sink your teeth into one of these – you’ve earned it!
If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at making choux pastry, but were put off by the thought of how difficult it must be, then I’m here to tell you right now that you are mistaken. Choux pastry is one of the easiest and most rewarding pastries to make.
There is so much you can do with it – cream puffs, eclairs, profiteroles. It is also great in
My first attempt at choux pastry
Many years ago I was throwing a party for about 30 people, and racking my brains for an easy dessert that was quick to prepare and easy to serve. I’d never made choux pastry before, but I’d just seen a TV program where they made a pile of profiteroles stacked up on a plate. It looked pretty impressive and I thought that would make a good
I found a recipe for choux pastry, dug out my Kenwood Chef and whipped up a batch of dough. I was a bit dubious because the batter was quite runny, but to my surprise they turned out really well.
The first batch of buns were a bit big because I’d spooned too much mixture only the baking tray so I made another batch and has another go. By the time I’d got through the third batch of batter I had enough choux buns to build a pile of profiteroles the size of Mount Everest.
I made a thick custard to fill them with, and drizzled them with melted chocolate. They looked and tasted amazing. I got so many compliments … ‘Wow, did you REALLY make these yourself?’ … and requests for the recipe … ‘You have to tell me how you made these’ … it was unbelievable.
Since then I’ve made choux pastry many times, but I think this recipe for cream puffs has to be one of my
How do you make Cream Puffs
The choux pastry for Cream puffs is made with a mixture of milk and water, butter and eggs, with a small amount of sugar
Melt the butter in the liquid
Start by melting the butter, sugar, salt, milk and water in a saucepan. Then bring to the boil.
Add the flour
Once the mixture has come to the boil, tip the sifted flour in all at once and beat
Mix in the eggs
Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. This is important because you don’t want the hot mixture scrambling your eggs as you mix them in.
Once the mixture is cool add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly. The mixture will go lumpy as you add each egg. This is perfectly normal. Just continue mixing until the mixture is smooth again before adding the next egg.
You could use a mixer to do this and save yourself a lot of hard work. I have a Kenwood Chef that blitzes this together in no time.
Once all the eggs are beaten in you should have a smooth glossy paste, which should hold its shape if you run the mixing spoon through it.
Bake
Line a baking tray with baking parchment and brush lightly with water. This adds to the steam in the oven which will assist in the rising process.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the baking sheet. Depending on how large you want the buns to be you could use either a teaspoon or a tablespoon. Alternatively you could use a piping bag to pipe the shapes.
In the photo below I used a tablespoon. Keep them quite far apart because they will spread as they expand during cooking.
The aim is to get the buns in the above picture looking like this:
These need to be baked at 400F / 200C for 20 minutes which will allow them to rise up and expand. Then turn the heat down to 350F/180C and allow them to continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes which will finish off the cooking process.
Don’t open the oven door for the first 20 minutes or you will allow the important steam to escape and the buns will not rise properly
When they are done, remove them from the oven and prick the side of each one with a toothpick to allow and steam to escape and prevent the buns from becoming soggy.
When the buns are cool, split them and fill with whipped cream. Then dust the top with icing sugar and enjoy.
Recipe
Homemade Cream Puffs
Ingredients
- 125 g Butter (cubed)
- 125 ml Water
- 125 ml Milk
- 2 teaspoons White Sugar
- 150 g Plain Flour (sifted)
- 4 large Eggs (beaten)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 250 ml Double Cream (whipped until stiff)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C
- Place the butter, milk, water, sugar and salt into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir to ensure the butter has completely melted
- Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once.
- Return to a low heat and mix vigorously until the mixtures comes together into a ball and the flour is completely combined.
- Allow to cool. See notes
- Add the beaten egg a little at a time, mixing well after each addition to incorporate all the egg. See notes
- Line a baking tray with baking parchment and brush .lightly with water. Shake off any excess water.
- Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking tray. Leave about 4 cm between each one to allow for expansion during baking. See notes
- Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for 20 minutes
- Now reduce the heat to 350°F / 180°C and allow to bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until well risen and golden.
- Remove from the oven and prick each one with a toothpick to release any steam.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack and then fill with whipped cream. Dust with icing sugar.
Notes
- It is important to allow the mixture to cool before adding the eggs, otherwise the heat from the mixture will cause the eggs to scramble.
- The mixture will become lumpy when you first add the egg. This is perfectly normal. Just continue beating until it is all incorporated and comes together as a smooth paste.
- Adding water to the baking tray causes more steam within the oven which assists in the rising process.
- The size of the spoon will determine how many puffs you get from the recipe. The larger the spoon, the fewer buns you will get. If you are making very small buns (using a teaspoon) you will need to shorten the cooking time to take this into account. The timing given for this recipe is based on using a tablespoon to size the buns.
- You could use a piping bag instead of a spoon to place the mixture on the baking tray.
- The mixture will expand on cooking so make sure you leave enough room between the buns to accommodate this.
- You need to cook the buns at a higher temperature initially to allow them to rise. Once risen you then reduce the heat and allow them to cook more slowly until they are done.
- Pricking the buns with a toothpick will release any excess steam and prevent the buns from going soggy and collapsing.
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