Mini Cream Puffs with Vanilla Pastry Cream
A classic dessert, in mini form. Everybody loves this beautiful, sweet treat!
Ingredients
Mini Cream Puffs
- ¾ cup water
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 pinch sea salt
Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup whole milk, divided
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mini Cream Puffs: Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 425°F.
- In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt, and set over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. When mixture reaches a boil, remove from heat and sift in flour. Stir to combine. Return saucepan to heat and cook while stirring constantly until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the saucepan. Transfer dough to a bowl and stir for 1 to 2 minutes to cool it slightly.
- Add 1 of the eggs to the dough in the bowl. As you mix, the dough will break into pieces and appear loose and shiny. As the egg becomes incorporated, the dough will become coarse looking, like mashed potatoes. When this happens, add another egg and repeat the process until you have incorporated all four of the eggs.
- Transfer dough to pastry bag. Pipe dough into mounds that are 1½'' to 2'' in diameter, and about 1'' high. Space the mounds 1½'' apart on prepared baking sheets. Dip your finger in water, then gently press down on any peaks that form during piping, to give the cream puffs rounded tops.
- Egg Wash: In a small bowl, lightly beat egg with salt until evenly combined. Brush egg wash over the tops of the cream puffs.
- Bake: Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cream puffs are well inflated and beautifully golden. Be sure to keep oven door closed until cream puffs are golden brown. Opening the door before they are golden may cause them to deflate.
- Now lower oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking cream puffs until they are dry, about 18-20 minutes more. Transfer cream puffs to a wire rack to cool.
- Vanilla Pastry Cream: In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of the milk. Then beat in the whole egg, then the yolks, one at a time.
- In a saucepan, combine the remaining ¾ cup of milk and sugar, and bring just to a boil, whisking constantly.
- While constantly whisking the egg/cornstarch mixture, very slowly pour ⅓ of the boiling milk into it, to temper the eggs. Then return the saucepan of remaining milk to medium heat. Pour the hot egg mixture into saucepan in a very thin stream, whisking all the while, so the eggs don't scramble. Whisk constantly until mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla.
- Pour pastry cream into a bowl and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface so it does not form a skin. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled.
- To fill the cream puffs: This can be done a few different ways. To fill like my photos show, cut off the top ⅓ of the cream puff with a serrated knife. Add vanilla pastry cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (I use Ateco #808). Pipe pastry cream into bottom portion of the cream puff. (To skip the pastry tip, just snip off the tip of a filled disposable pastry bag.)
- OR use a spoon to add the pastry cream to the cream puff.
- OR pierce the side of each cream puff with a sharp knife tip, making a small incision just big enough to fit a smaller pastry tip inside. Pipe the vanilla pastry cream into the cream puff's center, then press gently on the cream puff to close the incision.
- Sprinkle filled cream puffs with powdered sugar and serve with fresh berries or a fresh fruit sauce, such as Strawberry Sauce, Raspberry Sauce, or Blueberry Sauce. Rhubarb Sauce is also a spring/summer favorite. Or try my easy Hot Fudge Sauce.
Notes
Adapted slightly from the SprinkleBakes cookbook by Heather Baird, of Sprinkle Bakes.
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 1 Calories: 98kcal Carbohydrates: 8g Protein: 3g Fat: 6g Saturated Fat: 3g Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 73mg Sodium: 84mg Sugar: 4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.