Cream Puffs

Like all things delicious, these are definitely worth making.  You can make them as big or small as you like, I like them seriously big, with loads of filling oozing out when you take a bite.....yum!  

 

They're not as hard to make as they look, so here goes.... 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 roll puff pastry, thawed

65g flour

pinch of salt

50g margarine

150ml water

2 eggs, lightly beaten plus

1 egg, beaten for brushing the puff pastry

small amount of castor sugar

 

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degree C.

2. Roll out the puff pastry a little bit on a lightly floured surface.

3.  Cut into squares about 10cm x 10cm. (I didn't have a cutter so used the lid off a small Pyrex dish). Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

 

 

4. Sift the flour and the salt into a bowl.

5. Put the water and the margarine in a pan and heat very gently until the margarine has melted.

6. Increase the heat and bring to a rapid boil.

7. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately tip in all the flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour is mixed into the liquid.

8. Return the pan to a low heat and beat the mixture until it begins to form a ball and leave the sides of the pan. About 1 minute.

9. Remove the pan from the heat again and allow to cool for 3 minutes.

 

 

10. Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, beating well between each addition, until you have a very smooth shiny paste, thick enough to hold its shape.

11. Put the mixture into a piping bag. (Doing the chef thing here doesn't work for me - trying to hold the piping bag and spoon all the mixture in is near impossible with one hand, so I put the piping bag into a tall glass and spoon the mixture in that way.)

 

12. Pipe a round of mixture onto the centre of the puff pastry squares. Divide the mixture onto 6 squares (if large) or 12 squares (if small).

 

 

13. Fold the corners of the puff pastry into the centre of the choux pastry.

 

 

14. Egg wash the puff pastry and sprinkle with a little castor sugar.

15. Bake for about 35 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown and the choux pastry has risen.

16. Pierce several holes in the choux bun, using a skewer.

17. Return the pastry to the oven for 5 minutes more to dry out.

18. Cool on a wire rack.

 

 

Filling

125ml fresh cream

180g Caramel Treat

50g milk chocolate

small amount of icing sugar

 

1. Whip the cream until soft peaks form.

2. In a separate bowl mix the caramel treat well to remove any lumps.

3. Combine the caramel treat with the cream, mix lightly.

4. Spoon the cream mixture into a piping bag.

5. Pipe the cream mixture into the centre of the choux buns.

6. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time.

 

 

7. Drizzle over the pastries.

8. Sprinkle lightly with sifted icing sugar.