How to bake the best cream puff!
Making creampuffs (or pâte à choux in French) might seem like a tough nut to crack, and I get it. I spent a good chunk of my time figuring it out, until I stumbled upon the fail-safe way of making these beauties during my stint at Ladurée. Trust me, it's a game-changer.
Creampuffs, those delightful pastries with a crispy outside and a fluffy inside, can be a bit tricky. I've been there, struggled with it, and learned a thing or two. Ladurée, known for its fancy pastries, was where I cracked the code.
This recipe isn't just a list of ingredients and steps. It's the result of my kitchen adventures, a guide to help you nail the perfect creampuff without the fuss. Let's dive in and make baking magic happen!
Ingredients List
This recipe will make about 15 medium sized cream puffs
| Crispy dough | |
| Unsalted butter | 120g |
| Caster sugar | 150g |
| Flour | 150g |
| Cream puff | |
| Milk | 125g |
| Water | 125g |
| Unsalted butter | 125g |
| Caster sugar | 5g |
| Salt | 5g |
| Flour | 146g |
| Eggs | 220g (~4 and a half eggs) |
Step 1
Making of the crispy dough
Allow the butter to soften in room temperature until it is malleable. Then mix the butter, sugar and flour together in a mixing bowl until well combined.
Step 2
Roll out the dough
Once the crispy dough has formed, roll out onto a flat surface until it is roughly 2.5mm in thickness.
Step 3
Cut the dough
Using a ring cutter of your desired size, cut the dough out and place it in freezer. Feel free to pop the dough into freezer whenever you feel that the dough is too soft to work with, and continue cutting after the dough has firmed up.
Store the discs inside the freezer and reserve for use later.
Step 4
Making the puff dough
Start by melting the butter with water, milk, sugar and salt inside a pot and bring the mixture to a boil.
Step 5
Add in flour
Once the mixture has reached boiling point, turn off the heat and sift in the flour.
Mix until it is well combined and you no longer see lumps of flour in the dough.
Step 6
Mix the dough
Transfer the dough into a large bowl and start mixing the dough.
You will notice a lot of steam will start to dissipate, keep mixing until you no longer see steam coming out from the dough.
Step 7
Adding of eggs
Gradually add the eggs into the dough while continue mixing.
Step 8
Puff paste
The result should be shiny and silky smooth, when scooped out with a spatula the dough should still hang on the spatula leaving a "V" shaped pattern. This is the perfect texture for cream puff dough.
Step 9
Pipe onto baking tray
Pipe the paste onto a baking tray in your desired shape.
Step 10
Placing the crispy dough on top of the puff
Remember the crispy cookie dough that we made earlier?
Take them out from the freezer and layer them on top of the pastry one by one.
Step 11
Baking time!
Preheat the oven to 160 degree Celsius and bake the puffs for 30 minutes.
Please take note that you DO NOT want to open the oven door during this period. If you do, the steam will escape from the oven and cause your pastry to collapse, resulting in flat, sad looking puffs.
After 30 minutes when the pastries have puffed up significantly with a pleasant golden color, turn the heat down to 140 degree Celsius and bake for another 30 minutes to dry out any excess moisture.
Step 12
Voilà!
And there you have it!
You have made your perfectly round and delicious cream puff that one can buy at high end pastry shops!
Creampuffs are very versatile, you can fill them with whipped cream, mousse, custard, ice cream, or even eaten at its own!
I hope you enjoy making this recipe as much as I do!
Happy baking!
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