How to Make Cream Puffs, Classic Cream Puffs

Learn how to make cream puffs from scratch using the basic pate a choux pastry. Fill with chantilly cream or pastry cream. Soooo…. That whole Pate A Choux thing is still going on over here at Baker Bettie headquarters. I hope that’s okay. I know I’m cool with it, even though my thighs aren’t. But seriously, the more I play with this pastry dough, the more obsessed with it I am getting.Today we explore cream puffs! The classic cream puff. As much as I like to put my own spin on things and do unique variations on the classics, I love making the classics properly as well. So I tried to make proper cream puffs. I still need some practice, but with several attempts I got much better results.

 A couple of things I initially had problems with was getting this babies to puff as much as I wanted and making sure they didn’t deflate when I took them out of the oven. You want them to stand tall with a hollow center so you can fill them with all that beautiful cream chantilly!  I had a couple batches that didn’t rise very much, and a batch that fell flat. So I watched a lot of tutorials and thought about the science behind pate a choux and what might help these babies come out how I wanted. And I think I figured out a method that worked beautifully!

CLASSIC CREAM PUFFS

TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES COOK TIME: 25 MINUTES

This is the basic recipe for making cream puffs using the classic french pastry- pate a choux.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Shells

1 cup (8 fl oz, 240 ml) water

1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 oz, 113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

large pinch kosher salt

2 TBSP (0.8 oz, 24 grams) granulated sugar

1 cup (4.5 oz, 127 grams) all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

For the Cream Chantilly

1 1/2 cups (12 oz) heavy cream, cold

3 TBSP powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

For the Shells

1. Place water, butter, sugar, and salt in a sauce pot over medium high heat. Stir until butter is melted and everything comes to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add flour into the mixture all at once while stirring quickly. Continue to stir and cook off the moisture in the dough until it pulls away from the sides and starts to form into a ball. This should take about a minute.
3. Place dough into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl if using a hand mixer. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add eggs in one at a time. Do not add another egg until the one before has been completely absorbed into the batter. The batter will look smooth and glossy when ready. (Alternatively, you can mix in the eggs by hand. This just takes a bit longer. Mix each egg until completely absorbed before adding the next).
5. Place batter in a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip or a zip top bag with the tip cut off. Preheat oven to 425F. Line baking sheets with parchment or silpat.
6. Hold the pastry bag over the baking sheet and squeeze over one area until you have about a 2 inch round. Release the pressure from the bag and pull up to release the dough mound. You will have a little peak on the each that can be smoothed out with a wet fingertip. Keep the mounds about 2 inches apart. (about 9 per baking sheet)
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