This week, Charlotte has prepared for you her cream puff recipe inspired by Popelini and Thomas Keller’s recipes. Her secret? Pastry cream flavoured with orange blossom water! These cream puffs, which are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, really won our team over. We hope you will like them as much as we do!

If you are looking for new indoor activities, look no further! While this recipe requires a little more time to prepare than our previous recipes, it is truly an ideal weekend activity. We recommend that you enjoy this dessert while watching your favourite Netflix series!

Recipe

Ingredients

Recipe inspired by the books Chou à la crème by Popelini and Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller

For the pastry cream

160 g egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
133 g granulated sugar
50 g custard powder (recommended: Bird’s)
50 g all-purpose flour
666 g whole milk
33 g unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, at room temperature
2 tsp orange blossom water

For the cream puffs

250 ml water
250 ml milk
10 g powdered sugar
10 g salt
175 g butter
250 g flour
7 eggs

Instructions

To make the pastry cream

Set up an ice bath: place a medium bowl in a large bowl containing ice cubes and ice water. Place a fine-mesh strainer over the medium bowl (the pastry cream will be passed through it).
Put the yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean, add them to the yolks and mix on medium-low speed for about 30 seconds. Reduce the speed to low and slowly pour in the sugar, then whisk on medium-high speed until lighter in colour and thick, about 5 minutes. When the whisk is lifted, the mixture should form a slowly dissolving ribbon.
Reduce the speed to low, add the custard powder and flour and mix for 30 seconds. With the mixer running on the lowest speed, slowly pour in the milk. Scrape the bowl and mix on low speed for another minute or until combined.
Pour the mixture into a large saucepan, set over medium heat, and stir gently until it begins to thicken. Switch to a whisk and whisk as the cream comes to a simmer, rotating the whisk around the bottom to keep the cream from scorching. Whisk constantly until the pastry cream has thickened.
Pour the pastry cream through the strainer. Whisk for about 1 minute to cool slightly, then whisk in the butter in 2 additions.
Add the orange blossom water gradually, adjusting to taste.
Pour the pastry cream into a covered container and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The cream can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

To make the pâte à choux

Preheat the oven to 300 °F, convection mode (or 300 °F standard). Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large pan, pour the water, milk, sugar and salt. Add the butter cut in small cubes and bring everything to a simmer while stirring with a spatula until the butter has completely melted.
Incorporate the flour all at once and mix for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the mixture comes off the sides of the pan and the spatula.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add half of the beaten eggs. Add the rest of the eggs gradually until the mixture gets to the right texture. Draw a line in the mixture with a finger: if the mixture closes back together, the mixture is ready!
Fill a pastry bag, fitted with a 8 mm to 10 mm tip, with the mixture. Clog the bag by folding part of it inside the tip to keep the mixture from running.
Position the pastry bag at a 45-degree angle from the baking sheet and press to form 4 cm diameter puffs. Space the puffs 5 cm from one another.
Place 3 to 4 grains of crystallized sugar on each puff.
Bake for 45 minutes, making sure not to open the oven. Even if the puffs seem cooked enough, the oven shouldn’t be opened until 40 minutes in; they might collapse otherwise. When properly browned, take them out and let them cool down.
Poke a hole under each puff, or cut the top of each one. Put the pastry cream in a pastry bag with a small tip (to fill them from the bottom) or a big tip (to fill them from the top).
Fill the puffs with cream and enjoy!

The puffs are best eaten the same day, but can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days.

If you try this recipe, share your results with us by tagging @cuisinesteam on Instagram or Facebook!

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