I have never been much of a day dreamer. Even as a kid, I could always be found writing my short stories or with my head buried in a book rather than gazing into the distance, lost in my thoughts.
Recently however, I find myself day dreaming at work of all the lunches and desserts I would whip up over the weekend. Dreaming of indulging in a chocolate molten cake with a gooey chocolate centre accompanied by a luscious scoop of vanilla ice cream speckled with tiny vanilla beans or tucking into a bowl of comforting spaghetti bolognese with generous shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano and freshly ground black pepper certainly helps the work week go by just a little quicker.
This week, cream puffs were all I had on my mind.
Thoughts of spending the better part of the weekend in the kitchen, whipping up and putting together the multiple components (the chox pastry, tart dough and pastry cream) and finally sinking my teeth into the little babies were all that got me through the really long work week.
So when the weekend finally arrived, there really was no surprise where I was bright and early Saturday morning. It was just as well I got an early start with it as there was a lot of waiting time with choux pastries having to be frozen after being piped out and then again once topped with the tiny discs of tart dough.
It always surprises me how much I love long, involved, multi component desserts. There really just is something about it that really helps me unwind for by the time my little pastries sent off into the oven, all my late nights in the office were long forgotten.
These were soo good! With the crisp tart dough lending a textural constrast to the light, soft choux pastry and a rich, velvety pastry cream filling, these little babies were all I dreamt about and so much more.
And now, to round off the indulgent and relaxing weekend I’ve had, here’s introducing the newest member of my family, Kiki.
We adopted her from a friend and have had her for almost a week now. She seems to have adjusted pretty well to our household and is pretty happy to just sit around quietly, watch everyone do their own thing and let Coco provide the sound effects.
Isn’t she just the most gorgeous thing? I can’t wait to start teaching her tricks!
Cream Puffs [Taken from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook]
Pastry Cream
2 cups milk
60g unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup pouring cream
Tart Dough
45g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp plain flour
Punch of salt
1 tsp pouring cream
Choux Pastry
125g unsalted butter, chopped
1 cup water
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups plain flour
4 eggs, plus 1 egg white if needed
- To make pastry cream Combine the yolks, corn starch and 1/4 cup of sugar in a large bowl. Whisk well and set aside. In a saucepan, combine the butter, milk, salt and remaining 1/4 cup sugar over medium heat till the mixture comes to a simmer. Pour the milk mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, till thickened. Strain the mixture into a bowl and let cool at room temperature.
- Whisk the cream till stiff peaks form and fold it into the pastry cream. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate till ready to use.
- To make tart dough Using an electric mixer, whisk the butter and icing sugar together till combined. Add the egg yolk, following by half the flour, mixing well. Add the rest of the flour, salt and cream and mix till all the flour is incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, shaping it into a disk, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- To make choux pastry In a saucepan, combine the butter, water, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Remove the saucepan from heat and quickly whisk the flour in. Return the saucepan to heat and over medium heat, cook the mixture till the mixture pulls away from the side of the pan and a film forms on the bottom of the pan, stirring constantly.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat it for a minute till cooled slightly. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating well. Touch the batter to see if a soft peak forms. If it doesn’t, add the egg white in a little at a time till it does.
- Pipe the batter out into circles as large as your round cookie cutter. Smooth the pointed peaks with a moistened finger and freeze the puffs for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll the tart dough out to about 1/8 inch thick and cut as many circles with your cookie cutter as you have choux puffs. Place each disc of tart dough on a frozen puff and return to the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Preheat the oven at 190C.
- Bake the puffs for about 25 to 30 minutes or until they are golden brown all over. Remove the puffs from the oven and let cool at room temperature.
- Put the pastry cream into a piping bag with a large round tip. Insert the tip into the bottom of the puff and fill it with pastry cream. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy. Makes about 36 cream puffs
