Chocolate Cream Puffs With Almond Cream

2Bleu's Note:

This makes for a very elegant dessert. You can make these ahead of time, early in the day, and serve them after dinner with coffee or brandy.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

Almond Cream

• 1 tablespoon almond paste
• 1 1/4 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon butter

Chocolate Puffs

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 eggs

Other ingredients needed

• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. ALMOND CREAM: In a nonreactive saucepan, combine the almond paste, 1 cup half-and-half and sugar. Whisk to dissolve. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
2. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup half-and-half. Whisk well.
3. Remove the milk from the heat and add some of the hot liquid to the egg mixture and mix well. Add the egg mixture back to the simmering milk and place over the heat.
4. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Pour into a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream. Cool completely before using.
5. CHOCOLATE PUFFS: Preheat oven to 400°F and lightly coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.
6. In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, combine water, butter, sugar and stir until butter is melted.
7. Add flour and cocoa powder all at once; stir vigorously until mixture pulls away from side of pan. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Place or pipe 1/4 cup of mixture onto prepared baking sheet, spacing 2" apart. Bake for 30-40 minutes until puffed and firm. Allow to cool to room temperature before proceeding.
9. ASSEMBLY: Using a pastry bag with a star tip, fill bag with Almond cream. Using the tip, pierce the side of a chocolate puff and begin squeezing almond cream into the center, slowly removing the tip and ending with a swirl as it exits the puff. Repeat with remaining puffs. (You can also opt to cut them in half horizontally and fill with the almond cream, then replace the tops like a sandwich).
10. Place on a silver platter (metal will help keep them cool), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Remove plastic wrap and dust with powdered sugar just before serving.

Reviews

[SrtaMaestra]

Delicious--as all of your recipes are! Worth the effort. Chocolate & almond go very well together in this recipe! Made for PRMR.

[Sydney Mike]

Don't think I've ever made cream puffs before, & I almost backed away from this recipe after reading that first review! BUT, I was intrigued with trying to make 'chocolate' cream puffs, so . . . Absolutely glad I went ahead, 'cause these turned out to be one of the tastiest desserts I've ever made! Followed your recipe right on down & everything fell right into place! I even pumped them full rather than cut them in half to fill! Also didn't dust them with the powdered sugar (I don't particularly care for that kind of thing), but I did provide a shaker filled with the sugar so others could indulge! Definitely worth making again! [Tagged & made in Please Review My Recipe]

[wicked cook 46]

I am not giving a star rating since the puffs did not turn out for me at all. I don't know if it was an error on my behalf or not . I did check other cream puff recipes on Zaar and they look similar. The batter was very thin and spread like crazy on the sheet. I had all ingerdients out and double checked measurements before starting. I used an oven thermometer to make sure the oven was at stated temp. But the puffs barely puffed and were burning on the bottom after 10 minutes. The almond cream is delicious. But with no puffed up puffs ( they are more cookie like ) with burned bottoms I get to enjoy the cream all by itself LOL Made for Adopt a Tag Fall 2009