Description
Delightful strawberry cream puffs merge French pastry techniques with sweet summer flavors. Crisp choux pastry shells cradle luscious strawberry cream, offering a perfect balance of texture and taste for elegant dessert enthusiasts.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
- ½ cup (120 ml) water
- ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk
- ½ cup (75 g) fresh strawberries, finely diced
- ¼ cup (30 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- powdered sugar for dusting
- melted chocolate for drizzling
Instructions
- Pastry Base Preparation: Combine water, milk, butter, and salt in a saucepan, heating until the mixture reaches a rolling boil, creating a foundational liquid for the choux pastry.
- Dough Development: Remove from heat and vigorously incorporate flour, stirring until the mixture transforms into a cohesive, smooth ball that cleanly separates from the pan’s interior.
- Moisture Elimination: Return the dough to low heat, continuously stirring to extract excess moisture and establish a robust structural integrity for the cream puffs.
- Egg Integration: Cool the dough momentarily, then methodically blend eggs into the mixture, ensuring a silky, glossy consistency that will produce light, airy pastry shells.
- Shell Formation: Pipe or spoon the prepared dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, creating uniform circular mounds with strategic spacing to accommodate expansion during baking.
- Baking Process: Roast the pastry shells in a preheated oven at the specified temperature, allowing them to metamorphose into golden, puffy vessels with a crisp exterior and delicate hollow interior.
- Cooling and Stabilization: Transfer the baked shells to a wire rack, permitting complete cooling to develop the optimal texture for filling and handling.
- Cream Preparation: Whip heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a chilled bowl, generating a light, airy base for the vibrant strawberry cream filling.
- Filling Creation: Gently fold diced strawberries into the whipped cream, ensuring even distribution and creating a luscious, fruity filling.
- Assembly and Presentation: Slice the cooled pastry shells horizontally, pipe the strawberry cream into the bottom halves, replace the top sections, and finish with a delicate dusting of powdered sugar or an elegant chocolate drizzle.
Notes
- Manage Moisture Precisely: Control liquid content during dough preparation to prevent soggy or dense pastry shells, ensuring a light, crisp texture.
- Temperature Control is Critical: Maintain consistent oven heat and allow gradual cooling to develop perfect choux pastry structure with hollow interiors.
- Prepare Ingredients Strategically: Chill cream whipping bowl and ingredients beforehand to achieve maximum volume and stability in the strawberry cream filling.
- Customize Filling Flexibility: Adapt strawberry cream by substituting fruits or adding complementary flavors like mint or dark chocolate for dietary preferences and creative variations.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Desserts, Snacks
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 13
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 6 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 15 g
- Saturated Fat: 9 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg