FRANCE...again: Cream Puffs

It seems I haven't posted for quite some time now. Unfortunately, with the life of a college student, baking can be hard to come by at times. But the semester is over, and I sprained my ankle badly, which means plenty of baking time!

I'm returning to my roots today by travelling back to France, my first love. There is something about French pastries that I find completely enticing. The recipes seem complex, and they are so easy to mess up. Who doesn't love a good challenge?

So, here we are, discovering cream puffs. These bite sized pastries are light, fluffy, and filled with delicious sweet cream. Yum! Now, despite seeming extremely complicated, I found this guys to be quite easy to make, so have no fear!

The key here is mastering the pate a choux, the magical batter-dough combination that is the "puff" part of the cream puff. Here's the great thing about it, though: once you make it successfully, you can make it a hundred times. (And you'll never forget it--there's a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio for the ingredients!)

Pate a Choux:

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup (4) eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• OPTIONAL: splash of vanilla

Instructions:

1. Measure out 1 cup of water and pour into a saucepan.
2. Add 1 stick of butter and a pinch of salt to the saucepan and bring to boil. (I cut the butter into small chunks to help it become smooth more quickly.) 
3. Once it has come to a boil, remove from heat and add 1 cup of flour to the mixture.
4. Stir constantly until the batter becomes smooth and a ball forms. 
5. Transfer to a stand mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating on medium speed, until smooth. Add the vanilla, if desired.                                                   
6. Pour the mixture into a piping bag if you're fancy. (For the rest of us, a gallon-sized plastic bag will do. Just cut a small hole in the corner of it. NOTE: Remember to cut the hole to be very small. You can make the hole bigger, but you can't make it smaller.)
7. Pipe little mounds of pate a choux out onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or sprayed with cooking spray, and lightly press the peaks down so they do not burn.
8. Bake! I had heard that allowing the puffs to heat constantly through the initial part of baking helped them form better, so I tried it out. So, I started out with the preheated 425* and immediately after placing the puffs in the oven, I increased the heat to 450* for the first 10 min. Then, I dropped the temperature to 350* for the final 15 min to avoid burning. (I copied Baker Bettie's method here.)                                        
9. Remove the puffs from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack. Do not fill until they are completely cool.                                                          

Chantilly Cream Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (Or more, if you dare.)

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl.                              
2. Whip on Medium-High speed until soft peaks form.

Assembling the Cream Puffs:

1. Option 1: Fill a piping bag with the chantilly cream. Press the tip into the weakest part of the puff, breaking through the choux. Squeeze the bag, filling the puff with cream.
2. Option 2: Fill a piping bag or gallon-sized plastic bag with the chantilly cream. Take a serrated knife and cut the choux, splitting the puff in half. Fill the puff with the chantilly cream. Add sliced strawberries or other fruits, if desired.                   

So, that's it! Make sure you eat these babies fairly quickly--you don't want the cream to make the choux soggy! Bon appetit!