Heavenly Cream Puffs

Guess what! Today, January 2nd, is National Cream Puff Day here in the U.S.! My dad loves cream puffs, so I figured it was my destiny to make cream puffs today! I chose a recipe I came across yesterday while Josh and I were browsing through the copy of Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook that Old St. Nick brought for me. These aren't your everyday, average cream puffs. Noooo, these little babies are topped with a little halo of heaven. A perfect circle of sweet, crunchy tart dough. It took almost all day to make all the components: pastry cream, tart dough, and pâte à choux. My tart dough cut-outs were just a little too small, so they browned before the choux was fully baked. The pastry cream is deeelicious. It's lightened up by some fresh whipped cream. The crunchy tart dough on top lends the perfect amount of that golden pastry flavor, as well as a burst of sweetness. Yum! I'm gonna go have another cream puff just as soon as I click "Publish Post!" What a great way to say "suck it" to the most common New Year's resolution!

Ingredients + my new cookbook stand...
PS: You gotta get that vanilla extract! Sooo good!! Whisking cornstarch and egg yolks for the pastry cream
Waiting for the pastry cream to thicken...
Mmmmm... butter makes it better!
Vanilla brains!
The tart dough
Making the pâte à choux
They remind me of short, chubby snowmen!
Pâte à choux topped with tart dough
Cooling.....
The finished cream puffs!
Well worth an entire day's work!!

Recipes from MarthaStewart.com and Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
(I halved the recipes and got 14 puffs and just the right amount of pastry cream!)

Cream Puffs
Makes 3 dozen

All-purpose flour, for marking (I skipped this part)
Pâte à Choux (recipe follows)
1 cup granulated sugar, for sprinkling (You won't need 1 cup; I only used 3/4 cup and it was a lot)
1/2 recipe Tart Dough (recipe follows)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions
It doesn't say this anywhere, but here's the best way to take this on. Make your pastry cream first. It needs to chill for about 2 hours. As soon as you get the pastry cream in the fridge, get started on the tart dough. It also needs to chill for 2 hours. During the last half hour of the chilling process, go ahead and start the pâte à choux.
Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or with nonstick baking mats, such as Silpats. Dip a 2-inch round cookie cutter in flour, and mark circles 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Transfer pate a choux to a pastry bag fitted with a 5/8-inch plain tip (such as an Ateco No. 808), and pipe puffs to fit in flour circles. Smooth peaks with a moistened finger, rounding tops to ensure even rising. Freeze pastry puffs on baking sheets until firm, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, sprinkle a clean work surface with 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and place tart dough on top of sugar, patting it into a round. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup sugar over dough, and roll to a scant 1/8-inch thick, coating both sides of dough with the sugar to keep it from sticking. Using a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut out 36 rounds, and place a round on top of each frozen puff. Return to freezer until firm, at least 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds.
Bake puffs until pale golden brown all over, 25 to 30 minutes (Mine took almost 35 minutes) . Let cool completely on baking sheets on wire racks. Puffs can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature overnight.
Put heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Whisk the pastry cream to soften. Working in 2 batches, fold whipped cream into pastry cream. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as an Ateco No. 806). Insert tip into bottom of each puff, and fill. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Cream puffs are best eaten within a few hours; refrigerate in an airtight container.

• Pastry Cream
  Makes about 2 1/2 cups
  
  2 cups whole milk
  1/2 cup sugar
  1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
  Pinch of salt
  4 large egg yolks
  1/4 cup cornstarch
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  
  Directions
  Bring milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  Whisk egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Whisking, slowly pour about 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture into yolk mixture. Slowly add remaining milk mixture until incorporated. Pour mixture back into the saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat, whisking, until it begins to bubble in center and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; discard vanilla bean.
  (No need to dirty another bowl, but if you want you can follow this next direction) Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add butter; beat on medium speed until butter has melted and mixture has cooled, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Just before using, beat on low speed or whisk by hand until smooth.
  
• Tart Dough
  Makes enough for 3 dozen cream puffs (I dunno why it says this; You only need 1/2 this recipe)
  
  6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
  2 large egg yolks
  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  2 teaspoons heavy cream
  
  Directions
  Put butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, and mix until combined, about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup flour, and mix just until flour is incorporated. Add remaining 3/4 cup flour, the salt, and cream; mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
  Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
  
• Pâte à Choux
  Makes enough for 3 dozen cream puffs
  
  1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  1 teaspoon sugar
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  4 large eggs, plus 1 large egg white
  
  Directions
  Bring butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in flour. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides and a film forms on bottom of pan, about 3 minutes (It only took about 15 seconds for me) .
  Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Raise speed to medium; add whole eggs, 1 at a time, until a soft peak forms when batter is touched with your finger. If peak does not form, lightly beat remaining egg white, and mix it into batter a little at a time until it does. Use immediately.

Daring Bakers Challenge - Éclairs

Wow, I definitely almost forgot to post this. I guess I'm just so excited to have a three day weekend! Well, here it goes...

First, thanks to the hosts, Tony Tahhan and MeetaK, who chose the recipe.

I was extremely excited when I found out this month's challenge was eclairs. Just one day prior to finding out, I made pâte à choux (eclair/cream puff dough) on my first day at my new bakery job. They didn't expect me to do it right. "No one gets it right on the first try." But I sure did get it right! :) So I was really anxious to do it again for my Daring Bakers challenge. I made vanilla pastry cream for the filling, because my dad is the eclair-lover in the family, and that's how he likes them. My first attempt at this challenge didn't turn out so well. My eclairs deflated while cooling and were gummy in the middle. I assumed I had experienced beginner's luck at work. But I tried again the same day and magic happened! I made half shaped like eclairs and the other half like cream puffs. The puffed up perfectly and stayed nice and puffy after cooling. They were very delicious, and I was quite proud of myself. I added some raspberry flavoring and red food coloring to half of the filling just to provide some variety.

Here is the recipe with my notes and photos. Enjoy!

Boiling the butter and liquid Adding the flour
Cooking the dough
Adding the eggs
The finished choux dough
Éclairs going into the oven
Door ajar halfway through baking
Vanilla pastry cream cooling
Aww, the first eclairs died...
They were very gummy in the middle (I don't think I baked them long enough).
The second batch came out perfectly. (See recipe below for my changes to the baking method.)
Filling the eclairs and glazing the tops
Don't use cheap plastic bags to pipe icing... They break easily!
What a mess...
The finished eclairs!
Raspberry cream puffs!

To see how everyone else faired with this month's challenge, visit the Daring Bakers' Blogroll.

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs (makes 20-24 éclairs [I got 17])
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
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Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

Notes:
• Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.
• You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.
2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. (I removed the pan from the heat at this point.) You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.
3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand (I like to do it by hand. It's not difficult at all). Add the eggs one at a time (I beat them lightly in a separate bowl and added them about 1/4 cup at a time), beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon. (My dough was very thick and not very shiny, but it worked out fine.)
4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs.
5) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.
6) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 4-1/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.
7) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. (I followed these instructions the first time, and my éclairs failed. The second time I baked them for 12 minutes, then rotated the pans, and baked for 12 more minutes (keeping the oven door shut), or until golden brown. I then turned the oven off and let the éclairs cool with the door ajar for 30 minutes. I finished cooling them on a wire rack for 1 hour.) The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes. The éclairs should be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.
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Chocolate Pastry Cream (I used vanilla pastry cream, recipe below)

• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.
2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.
3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.
4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.
5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.
Notes:
•The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
•In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.
•Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.
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Vanilla Pastry Cream
Recipe from Baking... by Dorie Greenspan

• 2 cups whole milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1) Boil the milk and vanilla in a small saucepan. As this is heating, in a medium saucepan whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch, until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 3/4 cup of the hot milk in order to warm the yolks. Continue whisking as you slowly add the rest of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and whisk constantly, bringing it to a boil. Keep mixture at a boil, continuing to whisk, for about 1/2 minutes, and remove from heat.
2) Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the butter until the pieces are fully incorporated. The pastry cream will be smooth and silky, not clumpy. Scrape cream into a bowl and let it cool off. Place a piece of plastic wrap right onto the surface of the cream so it doesn't form a skin. Refrigerate until it is cold and ready to use. Keeps for up to 3 days.
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Chocolate Glaze (makes 1 cup)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.
2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.
Notes:
• If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.
• It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce (makes 1½ cups or 525 g) (I halved this recipe when I made it)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.
2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.
Notes:
• You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
• This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.
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Assembling the éclairs:

1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.
2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.
3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.
Notes:
• If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.
• The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.