Chocolate Dipped Creampuffs

Several years ago I decided to make cream puffs. It was so long ago, that I have to admit it was one of the first desserts I have ever made from scratch. The inspiration comes from a small family owned bakery in Santa Ana, CA. My family would go to this bakery often when I was a young girl. Cream puffs was one of their specialties. So I grew up eating cream puffs, and all my life I wanted to make them.

The only problem with all of this was that my parent's didn't let me cook or bake until I was 18 ish. By the time I reached that age, I went off to college near by and ate fast food and frozen meals when I was hungry for lunch on campus. And then for dinner, my mom would cook. Cooking was never sometime I did. I watched my mom cook though. I loved watching, because I wanted to learn.


I started dating my husband, then boyfriend, at age 21. He rented an apartment close to campus, and that's where I started cooking. That year, I graduated and we moved in together to a different apartment close to my engineering job, and that's when I started baking. He got me a KitchenAid mixer during Black friday that year, and all my baking adventures begun.

And cream puffs were one of the first desserts I made. Fast forward 5 years, and now I bake and do everything desserts. EVERYTHING. From fancy puff pastries and croissants to macarons and cake decorating. I'm always learning new tricks, but every time I make cream puffs, I remember the days where I had zero baking and decorating skills. =]


This weekend, my husband has to go to work on Sunday. He currently works at Yahoo, mostly programming to keep the Sports webpage up and running. And this weekend, there will be major traffic for Fantasy Sports. So I decided to make his co-workers some treats for their busy day!


Enough with the stories. Here is the recipe! Every time I make this, my friends and family can't get enough. And it's quite easy!!

Ingredients:

Pastry Cream:
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs sugar
5 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tps vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Dough:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 tps salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Chocolate Glaze:
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbs milk
1/2 Tbs corn syrup
1 tps vanilla extract
2 oz chocolate chips, semi sweet
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Make the pastry cream first. Start with scalding the milk in a sauce pan, do not let it boil.
3. While the milk is heating up, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Set aside.
4. After the milk is scalding, slowly dribble it into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. Then return all the liquid back in the sauce pan.
5. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil while whisking constantly. It should take a minute or two. The mixture should thicken up a lot.
6. Remove from heat, and add vanilla extract and salt. Adjust to taste. Let cool completely. We will mix in the whipped heavy cream after it cools.

7. To make the dough, boil the water and butter. Then stir in the flour and salt. The dough should come together.
8. Transfer the dough to your stand mixer bowl, and with the paddle attachment on low, add one egg at a time. Mix until all eggs are combined into the dough. It will be sticky.
9. Transfer the dough to a piping bag, and pipe blobs/rounds onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Or you can spoon the mixture on to the baking sheet if you don't have a piping bag.
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
11. Poke a hole on the side of each cream puff after baking to release out the air to prevent the inside from being too soggy. Cool on baking rack.


12. After the pastry cream has cooled. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks. Gently fold the cream into the egg mixture. Pipe the filling into each cream puff.

13. Now time to make the chocolate glaze. This step is optional. Cream puffs aren't traditionally glazed, but my husband likes them glazed. Start by combining the milk, butter, corn syrup and vanilla in a very small sauce pan over medium heat.
14. After the butter melts, add the chocolate. Whisk to combine evenly. After the chocolate melts, turn off the heat. Add the powdered sugar. Whisk to combine. Now you may begin dipping. If the chocolate thickens, return to the stove and heat for 1 minute.


The above picture is the tray of chocolate dipped cream puffs I made for the co-workers. =]





2 comments :

Zoe said... Best Blogger Tips [Reply to comment] Best Blogger Templates
September 2, 2014 at 8:28 PM

Hi Wendy,

I really enjoyed reading your lovely story. Your husband was so sweet buying you a KA and everything just happened subsequently... Very inspiring!

Nice cream puffs! They are not easy to bake and you have bake them all so well... Yum!

Happy to be your latest follower and hope to stay connected via blogging. Cheers!

Zoe

Raminfotech laptop service said... Best Blogger Tips [Reply to comment] Best Blogger Templates
September 3, 2019 at 11:40 PM

I really liked this part of the article

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