It's certainly been far too long since I posted anything here, for which I apologize. Although I am repentant I have to admit that my absence was legitimate. One of my students wanted to do an Eagle Scout project to benefit the Saint Bede Drama Department, so we've been working on a complete reboot of the storage systems on stage right. The results are amazing and it's made the construction of the set for the spring musical go much faster than usual. My scout and the rest of the crew have been working very hard, so I decided to reward them with some homemade cream puffs.
Today happens to be the feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, and my extension, stage hands. One of the traditional treats for this day is cream puffs. They are surprisingly easy to make, or at least I have always found them so, although I have heard a few stories of pate a choux failure. Water and butter are heated together until boiling, then flour is added along with a smidgen of salt and sugar. You beat the mixture hard and fast for a minute or two, let it cool slightly, and then start beating in (room temp) eggs, one at a time. The resulting mixture is thick and glossy, and is piped through a pastry bag onto a pan, in mounds for cream puffs and thick lines for eclairs. 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then another 25 minutes at 350, and you've got pastry shells.
There are variations on the recipe and the method, and the version I used is from the 1962 edition of The Joy of Cooking, but Gale Gand's recipe is a good one, too (click HERE). I saw her make cream puffs on her show "Sweet Dreams" and it helped me understand the method even better. I'll be posting pictures of the finished product later. They're going to get a chocolate mouse filling and a drizzle of hazelnut chocolate glaze.
Today happens to be the feast of St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, and my extension, stage hands. One of the traditional treats for this day is cream puffs. They are surprisingly easy to make, or at least I have always found them so, although I have heard a few stories of pate a choux failure. Water and butter are heated together until boiling, then flour is added along with a smidgen of salt and sugar. You beat the mixture hard and fast for a minute or two, let it cool slightly, and then start beating in (room temp) eggs, one at a time. The resulting mixture is thick and glossy, and is piped through a pastry bag onto a pan, in mounds for cream puffs and thick lines for eclairs. 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then another 25 minutes at 350, and you've got pastry shells.
There are variations on the recipe and the method, and the version I used is from the 1962 edition of The Joy of Cooking, but Gale Gand's recipe is a good one, too (click HERE). I saw her make cream puffs on her show "Sweet Dreams" and it helped me understand the method even better. I'll be posting pictures of the finished product later. They're going to get a chocolate mouse filling and a drizzle of hazelnut chocolate glaze.
And to think it's still the Lenten season!
With powdered sugar as a topping.
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