Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Make dough in a saucepan:
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine butter, sugar, salt and 1 cup water.
Cook dough:
Bring to a boil and quickly stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir until a film forms on the bottom of the pan.
To make sure the dough cooks long enough to create light, airy cream puffs, continue to stir on stove top until a film forms on bottom of pan.
Remove dough from heat; add eggs:
Remove from heat and transfer contents to a bowl to cool slightly, about 3 minutes. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously to entirely incorporate egg after each addition.
Eggs are the main leavening agent in pâte à choux. They are what add the lift and volume to your puffs, so don't cut corners on this step—be sure each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one.
Prepare egg wash:
For the egg wash, whisk together the remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water. Set aside.
Place dough in pastry bag:
Transfer the pâte à choux to a large pastry bag fitted with a 5/8-inch plain tip.
Place a small dollop of dough under each corner of parchment paper to hold it in place on the pan before you begin piping.
Smooth tops of rounds:
Gently smooth the pointed peaks with a moistened finger, rounding tops to ensure even rising.
Brush with egg wash and bake:
Brush tops with reserved egg wash. Bake until puffs rise and are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Puffs can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.
Fill puffs with pastry cream:
Use a paring knife to make a small X in the bottom of each puff to create an opening for filling. Transfer pastry cream to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/8-inch plain round tip. Insert the tip into the opening of each pastry, and pipe to fill with pastry cream. Serve immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you make cream puffs ahead of time?
Filled cream puffs are best when eaten the same day they’re made. However, you can pre-make the pâte à choux and the filling separately, waiting until just before serving to combine them. Pastry cream can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. And pâte à choux can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for one day, or in the freezer for up to one month. Re-crisp the pastry in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about five minutes then let cool before filling.
Is cream puff pastry the same as puff pastry?
Cream puff pastry, also called pâte à choux, is made and handled differently that puff pastry. Pâte à choux dough is leavened with eggs, and is cooked on the stovetop then piped onto a baking sheet. Puff pastry gets its height from many thin layers of butter between each dough layer, and must be kept very cold until right before it’s baked.
Why did my cream puff deflate?
There are multiple reasons why cream puffs may deflate. The first cause is undercooking. When preparing dough on the stovetop, be sure to keep cooking and stirring until a film forms on the bottom of the saucepan. Another cause of flat cream puffs is lowering the temperature during baking. That means: NO PEEKING!
Every oven is different and the baking time can vary significantly from an oven to the other. So try not to rely on the baking time too much. Instead, monitor the oven closely. Once your choux have puffed and have become golden brown, they are ready to use!
It may sound finicky, but cream puffs require a two-temp approach to baking. The first 15 minutes should be hotter — 425 degrees Fahrenheit. This will help the water in the dough turn to steam, and coax the dough into setting in time to capture that lift. If the oven is too cool, they won't rise and hollow out.
You can use half water and half whole milk. The milk will give the final pastry a richer color, but don't use only milk. Water creates the steam which makes the pastry rise.
The first is that you may not have cooked out the moisture enough. Make sure you give it a full 2 minutes on the stove. The second is that there is no way for the steam to escape when the puffs are baked. To avoid this I poke a hole in the side of each puff with a knife as soon as they come out to let the steam out.
After they have finished baking, turn your oven off and take the puffs out of the oven. Give them a poke or a little slit with a sharp paring knife. Return them to the oven (turned off) and crack the oven door with a wooden spoon. Let the puffs sit there and bask in their beauty for about 15 to 30 minutes.
Can you make cream puffs ahead of time? Filled cream puffs are best when eaten the same day they're made. However, you can pre-make the pâte à choux and the filling separately, waiting until just before serving to combine them. Pastry cream can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days.
There's still steam inside, and when you let it all escape before the pastry has cooled your dough might deflate. Boiled the water, butter, and sugar for too long. If there is too little water in your choux, there won't be enough steam to help the puffs inflate.
To make sure your dough is just right, scoop up the mixture on a spoon or spatula and then raise the spoon in the air, letting the pastry fall back into the pan. You will know it's ready when the pastry slides off slowly, creating a 'V' like shape.
Potential reasons for each fault include insufficient cooling, eggs added too quickly, not beating the mixture enough, incorrect baking temperature or time, insufficient baking, and allowing the liquid to cool too much before adding flour.
To refresh puffs, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).Transfer frozen puffs to a sheet tray and reheat until crisp, about 5 minutes. Let cool at room temperature before filling.
How to keep crisp and not soggy. I find that filled cream puffs will stay crisp when stored in the refrigerator uncovered for about 3 days. The refrigerator is cool but dry, so the shells don't get soggy.
Water and butter: fats provides tenderness to the cream puff. However, too much fat will interfere with gluten production making your cream puff collapse. It is important to bring the water and butter mixture to a full boil before adding the flour as heat is necessary to swell the starch granules in the flour.
When baking Puff Pastry, note that it's done when it's golden and puffy, not wet and doughy. Use the baking time in the recipe as a guideline, and rely on your eyes as well. You can bake Puff Pastry on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
The choux buns should be golden brown and, what pastry chefs call, 'dry' on the inside. This effectively means the inside should feel moist but no moisture is to be seen. If they sink after baking this means there was still too much moisture inside and you will need a slightly longer baking time.
Pastry being soggy in the middle is a result of the pastry being undercooked. Don't place the pastry on too high a shelf in the oven. One way to prevent soggy bottom pastry is to blind bake the pastry – This means partially or completely bake the pastry before adding the filling.
If your batter ended up being too runny, possibly you have added a little too much eggs. To fix this, cook a paste using roughly half the choux recipe (water, milk, flour, butter similar to how you started). Hold the piping bag in an angle.
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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