Cream Puffs Or Eclairs With Vanilla Pastry Cream Recipes

CREAM PUFFS OR ECLAIRS WITH VANILLA PASTRY CREAM

Steps:

• Make vanilla pastry cream:.
• In 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, flour and salt; stir in milk.
• Over medium heat, cook, stirring until mixture thickens and boils, about 10 minutes.
• Boil 1 minute.
• In a small bowl with fork, beat 6 egg yolks slightly.
• Beat small amount of heated milk mixture into yolks.
• Slowly pour egg mixture back into milk mixture, stirring.
• Cook over medium low heat, stirring till mixture thickens and coats spoon well, about 8 minutes (do not boil).
• To check thickness, lift metal spoon from mixture and hold up 15 seconds - spoon should not show through mixture.
• Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
• At this point I usually put this custard through a strainer to get out any lumpy cooked egg pieces.
• Cover surface with plastic wrap, and chill well, about 2 hours.
• When custard is cool, in a small bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat heavy/whipping cream till stiff peaks form.
• With a rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream into custard.
• Puffs:.
• Spray 1 or 2 large cookie sheets with nonstick spray. Heat oven to 375.
• In 2 qt saucepan over medium heat, heat butter, water and salt till butter mixture boils.
• Remove from heat.
• Add flour all at once. With a wooden spoon, vigorously stir until mixture forms a ball and leaves sides of pan.
• Add eggs to the flour mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition, till smooth.
• Cool mixture slightly.
• Using a large spoon and rubber spatula, drop batter onto cookie sheets int 12 large mounds, 3 inches apart, swirling the top of each.
• (for eclairs, instead of mounds, spread the choux paste into 5" by 3/4" rectangles).
• Bake 50 minutes (this is what the original recipe says - however, I NEVER bake them that long - more like 35 minutes - go by your own oven - if they're looking puffed and browned and dry, they're probably done).
• At this point, remove from oven, cut a small slit in the side of each puff and return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
• Turn off oven and let dry for 5-10 minutes (I don't usually do this and it doesn't seem to matter too much).
• When puffs are cool, slice top off of each - there will probably be some webby looking soft dough inside - carefully pull this out to make it hollow.
• Fill each shell with the chilled pastry cream.
• Replace top and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
• For Eclairs:.
• Go through the same process, but top with semisweet chocolate glaze: In saucepan, melt 2 squares semisweet chocolate and 2 T butter, stirring constantly (or heat briefly in the microwave to melt) Stir in 1 cup powdered sugar and 3 T milk till smooth.

VANILLA PASTRY CREAM

Steps:

• 1. In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until it is just hot enough to steam. While the milk is warming, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flour, and cornstarch until the mixture is completely smooth.
• 2. Once the milk is steaming, add half of it, whisking constantly, to the egg mixture. Add the milk and eggs back into the hot milk, continue stirring, and heat it for 1-2 minutes, until the custard reaches 170*F on a digital thermometer and is very thick. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and chill before filling pastry.
• My Notes: I made this creme patisserie for some profiteroles I made and it was great:-) sweet, smooth and perfect consistency for use with pastry. I think next time I will substitute the vanilla essence for real bean extract tho for a little more flavour but it still tasted great. I will never buy custard again after making this.
• To me, The reason there are no cooking directions or explanations of ""what to do"" after mixing ingredients is because it is a ""basic recipe"" that is to be used as an INGREDIENT for other recipes like cream puffs, eclairs, etc. I reached this recipe within a recipe for Chocolate Eclairs. Once I mix the Basic Choux Pastry Dough, I will go back to my Chocolate Eclair recipe and go from there -- that is where I will find an explanation for cooking and other directions. The same will go for Cream Puffs --
• I have made this vanilla cream many, many times but I add 2 more egg yolks and when it is almost ready to use I add 50 grms of butter. please taste it and enjoy.
• **Dad! I used this recipe for the filling of a ""Gateaux Basque"" recipe. This is the cake that is famous in the Pays Basque area in France where my husband is from. Cornstarch not needed and I substituted the vanilla flavoring with almond flavoring. O.K.
• Grpa.July said it wasn't needed and I didn't want to use corn starch. I didn't use a thermometer but just stirred until the cream seemed really thick. I refrigerated for an hour. Perfect! I love this, I did however add a little more sugar, vanilla and kahlua. Wow amazing. next time I will try a little chocolate, just curious about how great it will taste. until next time, happy cooking. Rob --
• I made the recipe exactly as written and it is really good but when the cream was chilled it was so firm that I was able to stand a spoon upright in it. I too will leave out the corn starch the next time I make it. I much prefer a softer cream.I too,Play with my Food.

CHOUX PASTRY- FOR PROFITEROLES, CREAM PUFFS OR ECLAIRS

Steps:

• Place the butter and the water in a saucepan. Bring the water to the boil and stir until the butter has melted. Remove from the stove.
• Stir in the sifted flour. Add the flour all at once. Beat until smoth.
• Return to the heat, and stir vigourously until the mixture leaves the sides of the saucepan and forms a smooth ball.
• Allow the mixture to cool slightly.
• Whisk the eggs well and then add them to the choux ball. Beat the eggs into the mixture.
• Use a piping bag to pipe 7-10 cm lengths for eclairs, or place in spoonfuls onto greased cookie trays for cream puffs or profiteroles or pipe into dotted shapes for uniformly shaped profiteroles.
• Bake in a hot oven - 220°C for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 200°C and continue to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
• Turn the oven off.
• Remove from the oven and immediately make a small slit in the side of each puff to allow the steam to escape. Return to the oven for a few minutes to help dry them out. The oven has already been turned off.