Kitchen

[nana59]

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@4kitties wrote:

If I can make them anyone can!  They are really not difficult.  I still have the recipe that my high school French teacher gave us.  It is so old, from 1973.  It is that old purple mimeograph print!  It has her little drawings on it!💕💕

She was a native Parisian who met and married a US service man during WW11.  I just loved her.  

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care to share that old recipe?!

[deepwaterdotter]

My favorite creamy filling makes enough for 24 cream puffs:

2 cups milk

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 egg + 2 egg yolks 

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

Bring milk and 1/4 cup powdered sugar to a simmer in a saucepan.  

Whisk egg and yolks, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar in a bowl.

Slowly ladle hot milk mixture into egg mixture while whisking constantly.  Pour back in to saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbling and thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  (At this point, you may want to remove any lumps by pouring filling through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl.)

Press plastic wrap on top of filling and refrigerate until cold.

After placing filling onto bottom of pastry half, I like to spoon a dollop of sweetened whipped cream on top before covering with top half of pastry puff.

[HLP]

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@ScrapHappy wrote:

Anyone ever make cream puffs?  Is it easy?  It's one of two of my husband's favorite desserts, the other being banana fosters.  I was thinking about giving it a try for Easter.

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Yes I make them. They can be made sugar free and when my husband was living, a diabetic, I made them often.

[HLP]

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@Carmie wrote:

I think they are easy to make.  You just have to be sure the Pastry is cooked all the way through.  I remember making them when I was a teenager.

After I bake them, I turn off the oven and let them stay inside with the door closed until the oven cools.  That way the pastry is dry enough.

I have more trouble with the custard.  Sometimes I just give up and use Bird's Custard Powder.

it is good to use for just plain custard for those who are allergic to eggs too.

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Use instant pudding for the cream, any flavor. and sugar free if need be.

[wagirl]

I have been making pate chou--cream puff pastry since I was a teenager---am 65 now and have always made them successfully----not very hard to do---now i have my KA stand mixer, easier than ever---I used a hand mixer back in the olden days!

[sfnative]

Follow your recipe to a "T."  Specifically with regard to placing your piped cream puffs or eclairs into the oven, pay attention to what your recipes says about opening and not opening the oven door or later placing a wooden spoon to ****** open your oven door at the end.  There is SO much controversy here.  Recommend you do not do the wooden spoon technique.

Also, make sure you allow your pastries sufficient time to cool completely.  If you're going to slice them open horizontally, do use a bread knife or at least a serrated knife.  If you're not going to slice and fill, then you'll need a pastry bag with a piping tip large enough to protrude into the cream puff or eclair.  If an eclair, some people will fill from the bottom at 2 or 3 points.

Before you begin, ask your husband what kind of filling or filling combos he likes.  Does he like just whipped cream?  Maybe he would like whipped cream on top of creme patisserie.  Or maybe you could make a small batch of fresh jam (good produce stores have great frozen berries).  You'd make a cream puff, slice it in half, pipe whipped cream artfully inside, then drizzle some berry jam of your choice on top of the whipped cream.  Or, replace the jam with a swirl of chocolate and caramel.  Then, place the top on and lightly dust the top with confectioner's sugar.

Have fun!

[Snooky60]

@ScrapHappy - I found a cream puff cake recipe on the internet from "all recipes" that my family likes even better than individual cream puffs. It's a lot easier and not much chance of mistakes. Just google it.💗