Saturday, January 25, 2014

Pierre Herme's Cream puffs


I  wish I had more photos of these cream puffs, but when you bake something and people are at the door, its too late for that. You are happy with the one that you have.
These are Pierre Herme's cream puffs. It was my birthday in December, and I received two of his cookbooks as a gift.
To be honest with you, I religiously looked at page after page wondering how his recipes really are. Are they that good? Are his cream puffs better then ones I make using my mom's recipe?
They are good, but they are different from what I am used to. My cream is firmer. This one is really soft, but that has its own advantages. It very light and creamy. I wish it was just a little bit ticker, but that could be easily done.
So if you decide to make them, here is the recipe.

For Pate a Choux:
125 ml cup still mineral water ( I used tap water)
125 ml whole milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt (I used one pinch)
110 gr  butter
140 gr flour
250 gr eggs (5 eggs)
Preheat oven to 400F/200C
In a saucepan bring water, milk, sugar, salt and butter to a boil. Add the flour all at once. Beat hard until the paste is smooth and shiny. Transfer the paste to a bowl and incorporate eggs one at the time, beating constantly. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with plain #14 pastry tip.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pipe out balls of choux arranging them 5 cm apart. Place them in the oven and turn the oven off for 10 min.
Turn the oven back to 350F/170C and  continue baking. After 10 min slide a wooden spoon between the oven and its doors to keep it partly open. Bake for another 10 min, and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For pastry cream:
1 vanilla bean
500 ml whole milk
130 gr sugar
35 gr pastry cream powder (2 1/2 tbs)
15 gr flour (2 tbs)
6 egg yolks (120 gr)
50 gr softened butter

Whipped cream 590 ml
2 tablespoons sugar

Split the vanilla bean and scrape seeds into a saucepan. Add milk, sugar, vanilla pod and bring to a boil. In a mixing bowl, beat the pastry cream powder and flour with egg yolks. Add one third of the hot milk mixture, beating constantly to temper the eggs. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Transfer the pastry cream to a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water to cool. Remove and discard the vanilla pod. When the pastry cream has cooled to 140F/60C, cut the butter into pieces and beat it into the cream. Remove 460 gr of pastry cream and reserve the remainder for use in another recipe.
(I used all of the pastry cream)
Whip the cream and sugar. Remove 90 gr of whipped cream and carefully fold it into the chilled pastry cream. Pour this mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain #14 pastry tip. Pour the remaining whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a plain pastry tip.
Split each choux crosswise three-quarters of the way up the side. Pipe the pastry cream mixture into the bottom half of each choux. Top it with a swirl of whipped cream. Cover with the top half and dust with confectioners sugar.



16 comments:

  1. It looks amazing, well done! So creamy and fluffy... :)
    Have a nice day!

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  2. I lovem love cream pufs and if you look at picture, you will understand why:So well executed

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    1. Thank you so much. Everyone loves them, its so hard to resist :)))

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  3. Princes krofne obožavam! A tek što ih je moja mama volela... uvek sam ih spremala kada je dolazila kod mene <3
    Nisam znala za ovaj štos kod pečenja (mislim na menjanje temperature i varjaču ;) ), a pošto ću skoro da ih pravim, možda ga i primenim :D

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    1. Gago, nisam ni ja, sad sam ih prvi put tako pekla. Kad sam stavila rernu na convection malo su mi se nakrivile i izvitoperile. Drugu turu sam pekla obicno, bile su ok. Jedino je krem redji nego kod onih nasih, ali je stvarno toliko lagan i penast da mi se bas svidja :)

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  4. Mislim da su nam medju omiljenim kolacicima, nisam ih nikada filovala sa umucenim slagom, samo sa zutom kremom a najvise volim da ih na kraju prelijem sa karamelom (samo ih malo poprskam odgore), onda tako fino krckaju kad se secer stegne.:)) p.s. jako lepa fotkica, jedna ali vredna.:)))

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    1. Hvala Lana :)
      Secam se tvoje slikice, mada ih nisam nikad probala sa karamelom, ali verujem da je super. Slag sam i ja sada po prvi put stavila, i jeste drugacije, ali je fino. Mozes makar sa jednom da probas :)

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  5. I love your cream puff (Ekleri)! I am so impressed with your Blog and your photos:) It reminds me of my childhood as my Mom always made those...

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    1. Thank you so much for kind words. I am glad I evoked you childhood memories. They are unforgettable and special for everyone.

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  6. Draga Ljiljo,hvala na komentaru na mom blogu.Ujedno te pozivam na moju facebook stranicu
    https://www.facebook.com/volimonet.kuvar,
    gde osim svojih delim i postove nekih blogerki
    Poydrav sa sun;anog Novog Zelanda

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  7. Ovo je omiljeni kolač cele moje porodice... Svi ih vole! :) Meni je čak i dosadilo da ih pravim više... :)

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