The Perfect Cream Puff

Name: The Perfect Cream Puff
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 400 grams Milk; 80 grams sugar; 80 grams egg yolk (about 5 egg yolks); 32 grams corn starch; 24 grams cold butter; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 100 grams heavy cream; 10 grams powder sugar; 200 grams Milk; 80 grams butter; 2 tsp sugar; 1/2 tsp salt; 140 grams flour; 4 whole large eggs

Ngan Kim Tram @cook_2942794

After trying so many cream puff and custard recipe, I think I have found "the" recipe that makes the best cream puff that I have ever baked! Enjoy! :)

Ngan Kim Tram @cook_2942794

After trying so many cream puff and custard recipe, I think I have found "the" recipe that makes the best cream puff that I have ever baked! Enjoy! :)

Saved

Ingredients

The Custard
400 gramsMilk
80 gramssugar
80 gramsegg yolk (about 5 egg yolks)
32 gramscorn starch
24 gramscold butter
1 tspvanilla extract
100 gramsheavy cream
10 gramspowder sugar
The Shell
200 gramsMilk
80 gramsbutter
2 tspsugar
1/2 tspsalt
140 gramsflour
4whole large eggs

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Steps

1

For the shell, beat up 4 eggs very well and leave on the counter for about 15-20 minutes until it reaches room temperature in order to get a smooth batter later.
2

Meanwhile, heat up milk, sugar, butter and salt in a sauce pan until the butter is all melted, the sugar is dissolved and the mixture boils rapidly.
3

Turn to medium heat, then add ALL of the flour in AT ONCE, quickly use a wooden spoon to mix the flour into the milk mixture. The flour will absorb the liquid very quickly, keep stirring to get all of the white flour spot cooked. Stir until the paste can be easily removed from the side of the pan.
4

Move the dough to a bowl, use a stand mixer with a paddle or a hand mixer to beat the dough until the dough cools down to touch (you don't see the steam coming out any more).
5

Slowly add the egg mixture a little bit at a time (about 1/4 of the egg mixture). Initially you will see the dough all lumpy, keep your cool and keep mixing the dough until all the egg mixture is absorbed and the dough turns to a paste-like texture. It is very important to let all of the egg mixture absorb before adding more egg. The end product should be a smooth, sticky dough that can keep its form.
6

Line the tray with parchment paper. Pour the dough into a pipping bag or a big ziploc bag. Cut the end about an inch. Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle with the pan, 1 inch up high and start squeezing the bag, it should form a ball like in the picture. The size of the dough is up to you, I like to make small sized cream puffs. The pan in the picture is 17x12 inch.
7

In a preheated oven at 390 F, place the tray in the middle rack, bake for 20 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 340°F and bake for another 20 minutes. I only bake one tray at a time. I do not bake 2 trays because you CAN NOT open the oven door during the process to switch the trays. Again, do NOT open the oven door while baking, otherwise you can start over.
8

This is how the shell should look like, slightly brown outside and airy inside. Let the shell on a cooling rack to cool down completely.
9

For the custard, in a big bowl, mix the egg yolks and 60 g sugar. Beat until the mixture turn pale in color and completely smooth. Then add the corn starch and mix well.
10

In a saucepan (I am lazy so I just use the pan to cook the shell dough), add milk and 20 g sugar, and bring to a simmer, make sure that the sugar dissolves. You can see small bubbles at the side of the pan.
11

SLOWLY pour the hot milk into the egg bowl while using a whisk to stir constantly. Keep stirring until all of the milk is added.
12

Then pour the egg milk mixture back to the pan. On medium heat, use the whisk to stir constantly until the mixture starts to thicken, turn the heat to low and keep stirring. You want the custard to be creamy but not too thick, so do not over cook it. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove. Then add the cold butter and vanilla extract, stir until all the butter is melted completely.
13

Pour the custard to a bowl, place the plastic wrap right on top of the custard. Store in the fridge until completely cool. If you are in a hurry, take the bowl out of the fridge and stir every 30 minutes to let the custard cool down faster.
14

When the custard is cold, in a bowl, add cold heavy cream and powder sugar, beat on medium speed until soft peak, you can see the waves from the mixer whisk. Then fold the whip cream into the custard until the mixture is perfectly smooth.
15

Assembly: you can cut the custard in half and pipe the custard on the bottom shell then place the top shell on top. OR you can use one chop stick to poke a hole on the side or the bottom of the shell, stir around inside to break the shell membrane then use a piping bag with a small tip to fill the shell with custard.
16

Sprinkle with powder sugar before serving. Enjoy! :)