Sunday, June 08, 2008

Cream Puffs

There seems to be a craze going on in New York about a bakery called Bread Papa where they serve the best Japanese cream puffs. My friend Tina told me that it’s at the Upper West side of New York and she just can't get enough of it. Diana and I love cream puff too especially when they are crispy on the outside and the cream would burst inside your mouth when you bite into them. They were simply delicious.

I notice that it’s not easy to find cream puffs here but Éclairs seem to be more easily available at the bakeries so if I want to indulge in this delicious treats I have to make it myself. This is one of my favorite recipes which I had in my files for a very long time. They might appear to be challenging to make but they surprisingly easy to prepare. The custard for the filling can be made well in advance and cooled in the fridge.

Ingredients for the cream puffs dough
1 cup of water
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp of salt
1 cup of flour
4 eggs

1) Pre-heat oven toe 400 degree F. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
2) In a heavy saucepan combine water, butter and salt. Bring it up to a boil. Add in flour all at once and stir vigorously until mixture cook and turn into a ball. Remove and set aside to cool down for 10 minutes.
3) Transfer the dough to a mixer and whisk in one egg at a time, mixing it well after each addition.
4) Drop about 2 tbsp of dough into the prepared baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes or until cream puffs are brown. Transfer puffs to wire rack to cool.

The same dough can be make into Éclairs

Ingredients for Pastry Cream
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tbsp of flour
3 tbsp of cornflour
2 cups of milk
4 egg yolks
1 tsp of vanilla

For Garnish (Optional)
Some Raspberry
Melted Chocolate

1) Mix egg yolks with sugar until combined. Add in both flour and mix well. Add in milk and stir until everything combined.
2) Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook for 1 minute more. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Transfer mixture to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before using.
3) To assemble cut top off the puffs. Fill it with the pastry cream and garnish it with raspberries. To serve drizzle it with some melted chocolate or simply dust it with some powder sugar.

Diana and Carlos happily indulging themselves into the puffs :)
More photos of the Cream Puffs

31 comments:

pearly said...

my second son big time fevo, I normally get from the shop look at your recipe make me hungry will try on with stew bury
when u mix the egg and the dough do u use a mixing or hand mix in

Beachlover said...

Gert,your cream puff look soooo delicious rich and good!!! actually your recipe look easy,maybe I will try it out.I never bake cream puff b4.Hope mine will turn out as good as yours..Thanks for sharing:)

Beachlover said...

oh!! when I see both Carlos and Diana eat with close half eyes make me wish their cream puff is right in front of me!!sedapnya!!

Anonymous said...

Gert,the cream puffs look deliciously good. From Carlos and Diana's expression, you have two very satisfied customers there:).

Lee

Cat Cat said...

Gert,
Wish I was in the photo too.. Aiyo, when I come to visit you, you make sure cook sedap-sedap for me ya... Hehe *muka tak malu ni amoi*

Jun said...

by looking at carlos n diana..i know its yummy! as always Gert! hehe

chriesi said...

These are irresistable!

Rita Ho said...

So beautiful and yummy! Again, easy for you to make, Gert but pasti susah for me. :(

I love them puffs. Our local Vietnamese serve them for dessert, mini ones minus the berries and chocolate but still nice.

Rita Ho said...

Oooops! Distracted by Carlos and Diana and typed wrongly. I meant to say "Our local Vietnamese restaurant ....".

Anonymous said...

the puffs look heavenly! I wonder if you mean the japanese "Beard" Papa. there's one in mid valley in KL. lovely cream puffs!

Yatie_T said...

Gert,
I love cream puff and malaysia cream puff is different than US cream puff. Yours look so yummy and I wish I was there with Diana and Carlos. huhuhu....

Kiersten said...

Beard Papa was a hit in KL too when it first opened in Mid Valley Megamall! I love love love your version, especially with the chocolate syrup.

The expressions on Diana and Carlos' faces - priceless!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Very creative by adding the fresh raspberries, yummy! All the berries are on sales now, it's the time to eat more berries.

BTW, I got a tag for you, come check it out! :)

Olga said...

These look so good! I wonder if you can make something similar starting with the frozen cream puffs from a store and then cutting them and adding raspberries and chocolate syrup...

Cakebrain said...

We have a Beard Papa's in Vancouver, and I also just recently made cream puffs! Your choux turned out gorgeous! Lovely photos!

ICook4Fun said...

Pearly, I used a mixer to incorporate the eggs into the dough.

Lesley, do try out this recipe as it's really easy and the puffs turn out perfect :) Carlos and Diana just loves it.

Lee, the look on their face are priceless, isn't it :) :)

Cat, when are you coming to visit me. I am all ready for you :) :)

Jun, it is yummy. Semua dah masuk perut :) :)

Chriesi, yup :)

Rita, once you get the hang of making it, it's pretty simple :) When are you coming for a visit then we can make it together :)

MC, Bread Papa is a chain of Japanese bakery and we do have it here in the US and Canada.

Yatie, thank you.

Pinky, yeap "PRICELESS" ha ha that is why I took a pix of them eating :)

LCOM, the berries here still pretty expensive. I will get to the tag later.

Olga, if you can buy ready made cream puffs why not :) Just put your fav fillings and you are good to go :)

Cakebrain, thank you for stopping by. Will check out your blog.

Maggie said...

These are breathtakingly beautiful!

Big Boys Oven said...

this is so so yummy! I also making some!

Salt N Turmeric said...

so pretty! berapa byk carlos makan? fr the look on his face, i bet he ate like 10! lol.

p.s. we'r gonna be taking it slow w packing since we'l have the whole mth of july to do it. ;)

ICook4Fun said...

Margaret & BBO, Thank you.

Farina, actually Carlos like it plain without the raspberries and Choc. So dia makan 2 saja :)

Dwiana P said...

oh boy they are eating puffs without sharing some to me?? :) love so much of cream puffs.

Zue Murphy said...

My version of cream puff, yang frozen jual kat Costco. I don't think I can cook cream puff like yours. Tengok Diana and Carlos makan, Sampai pejam mata. Cream puff with coffee or hot cocoa for me!

tuan umah said...

lydia,

creampuff ni mcm senang je nk buat.ct buat selalu fail la..dh serik da..ada tips utk elak jadik bantat ke?

Anonymous said...

haven't made cream puffs in years; you make me want to leap up and get to it

Cakespy said...

WOW! The eclair one looks like a sweet sandwich...full of deliciousness!! These are beautifully constructed and sound absolutely yum!

Jeanine - The Baking Beauties said...

Your cream puffs look fantastic! Makes me want to go make some...right now...yummy!

ICook4Fun said...

Kesum, when you bake cream puff temp. oven tu kena accurate.

Arlene, thanks for stopping by.

Cakespy, it's really yummy :) :)

Jeanine, ha ha..

Anonymous said...

I tried the cream pastry few times but it always fail. even i put in the fridge and overnight, the cream pastry doesnt look like cream at all, it was like liquid thingy. Err.. you said let it chill for min 2 hours before using, i would also like to know what is the result you get after you took out from the fridge. thanks

ICook4Fun said...

Hi Anon, I don't know what went wrong with the cream you made. I did this recipe many times and it never fail me. Did you cook until the pastry cream boil and blubby? There is no way it will be liquid as the recipe only used 2 cups of milk and used 4 egg yolk, 3 tbsp of flour and 3 tbsp of cornflour and with all this ingredients the cream will set beautifully.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

Can i just ask if I can combine the mixture with the egg using a normal hand held mixer or do i need a dough hook?

Thanks so much!

ICook4Fun said...

Anon, you can always use the normal hand held mixer or if you have a strong arms you can also mix it with hand.