Making fancy pastries always makes me nervous that I'll do something wrong and have to throw the whole thing out. However, the choux pastry for these cream puffs is surprisingly easy to make. As long as you follow the instructions closely, I'm sure this recipe will turn out well every time!
The choux pastry dough is very versatile, and depending on how you pipe/cook it, this dough can be used for eclairs, profiteroles, or even churros! I love the raspberry whipped cream filling I made for these ones! Isn't the pale lilac color pretty? Feel free to use different fillings, too. Fill with ice cream and drizzle with chocolate ganache for profiteroles, or fill cream puffs with your favorite pudding or a custard instead! There are many different ways to enjoy this dessert, and all of them are delicious!
Ingredients:
For the choux pastry:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk (whole or 2%)
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup flour
4 large eggs, room temperature
For the whipped cream filling:
2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
1/4 cup raspberry juice (or any berry juice)
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions:
Combine water, milk, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Turn stovetop heat to medium. Stir until butter is melted, then let mixture come to a full, rolling boil. Quickly add the flour and reduce heat to low. Gently stir the flour in, making sure to smash any lumps, until the mixture clumps together and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and continue to stir mixture for a few minutes until it has cooled down a little.
Crack an egg into the mixture, then stir quickly to incorporate the egg into the dough. Once the mixture has blended together, add another egg and stir in. Continue to add the eggs slowly, one at a time, until all eggs have been added and the dough looks smooth and velvety.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer pastry dough into a piping bag (or a large Ziploc bag with a corner cut off) and begin piping puffs onto the baking sheet. When you pipe these, tilt the piping bag tip down towards the baking sheet, and pipe straight down. Each puff should be about 2 inches wide and 1 inch tall. After you've finished piping, lightly wet your fingers with some water and press down any peaks at the top of your puffs.
Bake puffs in the oven 30-35 minutes. DO NOT open oven door before time is up. When puffs are ready, the tops should be golden brown and they should appear dry. Turn oven heat off and keep puffs inside the oven, with the door cracked open, for an additional 10 minutes. This will help keep the puffs from cooling down too fast and collapsing. Pierce each puff in the side with a knife to make a hole for the filling.
Take puffs out of the oven and let cool completely. While these are cooling, you can make the filling!
For raspberry whipped cream filling:
Combine heavy whipping cream, raspberry juice, and powdered sugar into a large bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, start on low speed and whip the mixture until well combined and stiff peaks form. This may take a few minutes, so be patient. It's worth it to have thicker filling for the puffs.
Once the whipped cream filling is done, gently transfer into a piping bag (or Ziploc) and begin filling your puffs (once they have cooled). To fill a cream puff, just insert the piping tip into the hole you made in the cream puff, then fill the puff until the whipped cream begins oozing out.
Dust puffs with powdered sugar if desired. The cream puffs should be eaten as soon as possible, but if you are planning on saving some for later, don't fill them until you are ready to eat them! Enjoy!
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