Cream puffs with rose-flavored Chantilly cream
Cream puffs are a universal delight! They come in all shapes and sizes, sweet or savory, stuffed or not. And the best part? You can make them in no time! They are by far my favorite pastry. I love them filled with creamy custard or whipped cream, but I can't resist salted gougères either. After my course in whipping cream at Chantilly Castle, I had a new inspiration. Cream puffs with rose-flavored Chantilly cream! Now that really is a dessert worthy of serving at a royal table.
It's simple, but watch out!
I’ve been making puffs since childhood, with varying degrees of success. As simple as the dough may seem, there are a few things to watch out for.
Making choux pastry
Choux pastry dough, also known as pâte à choux, is made with fat, liquid, flour, and eggs. The basic ratio is 1/2/1.5/3 respectively. Choux dough is a kind of cooking dough. As the dough cooks over a heat source, the flour bakes and some of the liquid evaporates. This makes the puffs rise and become airy and hollow.
Liquid
Puffs are typically made with water, but sometimes a mixture of half water and half milk is used. The puffs are a little smaller and darker in color when they come out of the oven.
Type of flour
If you want to bake beautiful puffs, it's best to use fine wheat flour. This flour can absorb a lot of moisture, making the puffs light and airy. But you can also use ordinary wheat flour, which gives a more solid result. The puffs keep their shape better and have a thicker and crisper shell. They are less bulbous and airy, though. Whatever flour you choose, it is important to sift the flour first.
Cooking the dough
Once you've added the flour to the hot liquid, it's important to stir really well to get a lump-free dough. Next, cook the dough gently over a low flame, stirring until it’s completely dry. The dough will start to loosen from the sides of the pan and form a ball. Now take the pan off the heat and let the dough cool down for a few minutes.
Adding the eggs
When making a pâte à choux, it's important to use fresh chicken eggs. Add one egg at a time and mix thoroughly before adding another. You can also whisk the eggs first. Don't add the eggs until the dough has cooled down. Otherwise, the eggs will start to cook, and the dough will become too sticky to work with.
How do I know the dough is ready?
A good choux pastry should have just the right firmness. You can test this with the V-test. Just stir the dough with a spatula and lift it up. The dough should form a point like a V downward.
If the dough is too firm, the puffs will stay small because not enough steam develops in the dough during baking.
With a dough that is too liquid, too much steam develops. The puffs rise too high and then collapse back together.
The way the dough looks is also a good indicator. A good choux pastry has a smooth, silky sheen and is supple. When you take a spoonful, it looks like a thick, smooth ribbon.
Baking choux
Use a piping bag to pipe the dough onto a greased or baking paper-lined baking sheet. You can use a serrated or smooth nozzle. Make the puffs round, long, or crown-shaped, and make sure they're all the same size. Leave enough space between them because the dough expands quite a bit.
Puffs are always baked at a high temperature. 180° Celsius is a minimum but you can go up to 230° Celsius. This high temperature causes steam to develop, which in turn makes the dough rise. Puffs made with water and milk are better baked at 180 - 200° Celsius, while puffs made with only water are baked at a higher temperature. Adjust the temperature if you are using a convection oven.
Once the puffs are golden and firm, they're ready. They're crisp on the outside and at the bottom. Let them cool in the oven so they don't collapse. You can poke a hole at the bottom of the puffs to let excess steam out. Otherwise, they may become soggy.
Filling the puffs
You can stuff sweet puffs with whipped cream, pastry cream, chocolate, ice cream, coffee cream, or anything you like. Piled up, they can form a croquembouche or be used to make a Saint Honoré cake. You can also bake them in the shape of a crown and use them as a base for stewed fruit. Or you can make a Paris-Brest with them. Finally, you can add icing, chocolate, caramel, or sugar.
Savory puffs are a fantastic appetizer. They go so well with cheese, think gougères. Or you can stuff them with a creamy sauce with mushrooms, shredded chicken or bacon. You can also use them as a base for canapés with smoked salmon or shrimp, for example.
Storing puffs
You can freeze unbaked puff pastry perfectly. Simply pipe the puffs into shapes and freeze them right away. When you're ready to bake, place them on a baking sheet, let them thaw, and bake. You'll get puffs that are just as good as if they were freshly made.
Puffs without filling can be stored in a dry place for up to a week. Just make sure they're wrapped airtight. You can also freeze them for several months—perfect for entertaining when you don't have time to bake.
Stuffed puffs are so delicious, but they do tend to lose their freshness quickly. Be sure to keep them refrigerated but only for up to two days.
Recipe: Cream puffs with rose-flavored Chantilly cream
With this recipe you will make about 24 puffs.
Ingredients:
For the puffs:
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 200 ml water
- 150 g sifted wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 5 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon milk
For the rose cream:
- 500 ml chilled heavy cream min. 30% fat content
- 5 tablespoons of rose syrup
- A few drops of red food coloring or red beet juice
For the finishing touch:
- Powdered or pearl sugar
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Step 1: make the puffs
Preheat the oven to 230°C (210°C for a convection oven).
Put the butter, salt, and water in a saucepan and bring them to a gentle boil until the butter is melted. Add the flour all at once and mix well with a spatula. Keep stirring the dough over low heat until it loosens from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Now take the pan off the heat and let the dough cool for a few minutes. Add one egg at a time and mix well before adding another.
Mix the yolk with the milk to make an egg wash.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper or lightly butter it, then dust with flour.
Take the choux pastry dough and put it in a piping bag with a smooth nozzle. Pipe the dough into rounds on a baking sheet. Brush them with the egg wash and bake for 20 minutes. Let the puffs cool in the oven.
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Step 2: make rose-flavored Chantilly cream
While the puffs are cooling, make the rose-flavored Chantilly cream. For instructions on whipping the perfect Chantilly cream, check out my blog.
Beat the cream until it's thick and no more bubbles form. Then add the rose syrup and food coloring. You want a light pink color. Keep beating until the cream is firm.
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Step 3: fill and finish the puffs
Once the puffs have cooled down, cut them crosswise. Fill a piping bag with a serrated nozzle with the rose-flavored Chantilly cream and fill the bottom half of the puffs. Put the top half on top.
For a final touch, dust the puffs with powdered sugar. You can also sprinkle pearl sugar on the puffs before baking. Pearl sugar is a hard grain of compressed granulated sugar that doesn't melt during baking because all the moisture is gone from the sugar. The size of the pearl sugar is indicated by a P value. The smaller the number, the smaller the grain. For puffs, it's best to use pearl sugar with a low P value.
You can also finish the puffs with icing. Just beat 100ml of egg whites and then add 600g of sifted powdered sugar a little at a time. A few drops of vinegar will make the glaze more stable, and you can also add a few drops of red food coloring to get a pink glaze.
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