Homemade Cream Puffs Recipe

1. Prepare pastry cream according to the directions listed. During the last hour of chilling prepare cream puffs as follows. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

How to make the cream puffs:

1. In a medium saucepan bring water, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil. Remove from heat, add in bread flour and mix until well combined.

2. Return to medium heat and continue to cook, stirring the mixture constantly until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball.

3. Allow mixture to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in eggs and egg whites one at a time, stirring after each addition until combined. Continue to stir until the mixture together.

4. Drop mixture about 2 tablespoons at a time onto Silpat lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

5. Remove from oven, transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Once cool, cut into halves then fill with pastry cream, sweetened whipped cream, and top with chocolate sauce or dust with powdered sugar.

How to make the pastry cream:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring milk and cream just to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, cornstarch, flour, and salt until well blended and slightly pale for about 1 minute.

3. Remove saucepan from heat, while whisking pour 2/3 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture and mix until combined, then pour egg mixture into milk mixture in the pan while whisking the mixture in pan.

4. Return to heat and reduce temperature to medium-low. Cook whisking mixture constantly to prevent curdling, until mixture has thickened for about 4 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

6. Press mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap pressing directly against the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for 2 hours or until mixture is cold.

How to make the sweetened whipped cream:

1. In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on high speed, whip heavy cream until soft peaks form. Stir in powdered sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.