Souffles De Crème (Cream Puffs)

This recipe is from a French cooking class I took about twenty-five years ago. I decided to post it now for Zaar World Tour II.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 24

Ingredients

• Pastry Puffs

• 1  cup water
• 1⁄4 cup butter
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1  cup flour
• 4  eggs

• Cream Filling

• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 2  tablespoons flour
• 2 -3  tablespoons cornstarch
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2  cups milk
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 2  egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1  cup  whipping cream
•  powdered sugar (for sprinkling)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. In a saucepan, bring water, butter, and salt to a rolling boil; remove from heat.
3. Whisk in flour and stir until dough comes together; add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition until batter is smooth.
4. Drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet; use wet fork tines to fluff up each mound of dough.
5. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue baking for another 15 minutes until pastry puffs are light golden-brown; turn off oven but do NOT open oven door; after several minutes remove puffs from oven and slice; return puffs to baking sheet then return sheet to oven; allow puffs to rest several minutes inside oven with oven door slightly ajar.
6. Stir together sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan; add milk, vanilla, and egg yolks; cook over low-medium heat, stirring, until thick; cool in refrigerator.
7. Whip cream until stiff and fold it gently into cooled filling mixture; spoon or pipe filling into pastry puffs; sprinkle powdered sugar over top.
8. NOTE: The unfilled puffs freeze well, may later be filled with your favorite chicken or ham salads, and can be made small-sized for appetizers ~ I've often enjoyed them this way at wedding showers :) .