Cream Puffs Recipe
Perfect cream puffs that are light and crisp with hollow centers, to be filled with creamy fillings.
Servings: 24 cream puffs
Ingredients
Cream Puff Shells
- 113 g (1 stick) Unsalted Butter
- 120 ml (½ cup) Milk
- 120 ml (½ cup) Water
- 2 teaspoon (2 teaspoon) Granulated Sugar, (caster sugar)
- ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) Salt
- 130 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) All-purpose Flour, (plain flour) sifted
- 5-6 (5-6) Large Eggs, (medium if in the UK) room temperature
Filling Options (Choose One)
- Chantilly Cream
- Creme Diplomat, (my favourite)
- Pastry Cream
Instructions
Make The Choux Pastry
- Add all the ingredients except the flour and eggs to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir together until the butter has melted and the mixture starts to boil.
- As soon as the mixture is boiling, remove it from the heat and quickly add all of the sifted flour. Mix quickly with a wooden spoon until the flour is totally incorporated.
- Return the pan to the heat and continue to beat it vigorously for 2-4 minutes until it comes together into a smooth, shiny ball and you can see a thin film on the bottom of the pan.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer and use your spoon to spread it up the sides of the bowl to help it cool faster. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes until it is no longer hot to touch.
- Turn the stand mixer on low speed with a paddle attachment fitted. Add the eggs one at a time, letting them mix until completely incorporated in between each egg until you have one egg remaining. The amount of egg needed varies according to multiple factors, so you may not need all of the eggs to reach the right consistency.
- Crack the last egg into a bowl and beat it with a fork to break it apart. Add it to the mixer a little at a time, testing the pastry in between to see if is ready. You are aiming for a paste-like dough that is smooth, glossy, and pipeable. You can test if it is ready by putting a spatula into the bowl and lifting it out - if the dough is the right consistency, it will fall off the spatula in a V-shape. See my choux pastry recipe for more tips on how to know exactly when it's ready. Once the right consistency is reached, do not add any more eggs.
Pipe the Choux Buns
- Transfer the choux pastry to a piping bag with a round tip. Squeeze any air bubbles out of the bag.
- Pipe a tiny amount of pastry into the four corners of a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. This holds the paper in place as you pipe.
- Hold the piping bag at a 90° angle to the pan, squeeze steadily while holding the tip of the bag just slightly under the surface of the pastry to make little mounds of pastry on the sheet.
- Stop squeezing before moving your piping bag away, and flick your wrist to break the flow of the pastry. Make sure to leave plenty of space in between each one as they will puff up a lot as they bake.
- Dip your finger in a little cold water and gently dab down the little peaks to flatten them. Let the piped choux sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven.
Bake The Choux Buns
- Important: Bake time varies massively depending on size, shape, and moisture content - so it's best to learn the signs that your choux pastry is baked, rather than relying on arbitrary recipe times. See the post above for more information on this.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C (180° fan-assisted). Bake the choux at this temperature for 10-12 minutes until they have risen.
- Once the buns have puffed up, turn the temperature down to 375°F / 190°C (170° fan-assisted) and bake for a further 25 - 35 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown all over and fully baked. Do not open the oven door in the first 20 minutes or the shells will collapse!
- Remove them from the oven and turn the oven off. Pierce a hole in the bottom of each choux bun with a skewer to let steam escape, then place them back on the sheet, hole-side-up and put back in the switched off oven with the door propped open to allow them to dry out for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
Fill the Cream Puffs
- Fill the cream puffs with your chosen filling. I like to use creme diplomat, but chantilly cream is another popular choice. See the post above for more ideas.
- There are two ways to fill cream puffs: by piping through a hole in the bottom or by slicing and filling. Both are good - it just depends on the look you want. To pipe through the bottom:Put your filling in a piping bag with a small round tip, push it through the bottom of the cream puff shell, and squeeze gently until it feels full and heavy. To slice and fill:Cut the top third off of the cream puff shells, horizontally like a little hat. Pipe or spoon your filling into the bottom of the puff, then place the top back on.
- Finish with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Notes
Most Important Tips for Choux Success:
- Cook the panade properly - After adding the flour, make sure you keep cooking until a smooth ball forms, and you can see a thin film on the bottom of the pan. It's crucial that you cook enough moisture out of the dough to prevent flat choux buns.
- Cool the hot dough before adding the eggs so the heat doesn't cook or scramble the eggs. You put the dough in your mixer bowl and spread it up the sides to cool it down faster.
- Judge the amount of egg by consistency - every time you make choux pastry dough, it will need a slightly different amount of egg. Learn to know when it has reached the right consistency using the guide above.
- Pipe steadily, holding your pastry bag at a 90° angle to the baking tray, apply steady, even pressure, and try to keep the sizes consistent.
- Rest the dough for 10-15 minutes after piping and before baking. Even better if you can chill it.
- Spray with water - Use a spray bottle to give the choux and parchment paper a fine mist of water just before baking, to encourage steam and help them to puff up evenly.
- Don't open the oven door - if you take the choux out too early or open the oven door before they have fully set, they will collapse.