Raspberry Cream Puffs Recipes

CREAM PUFFS I

Steps:

• For the custard: In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 5 tablespoons flour and a pinch of salt. Stir in milk, a little at a time, until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 60 seconds, then pour a small amount of hot liquid into the 2 egg yolks, and stir. Then return now heated egg yolks to saucepan and stir, over heat, until mixture starts to bubble again. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Cover and chill in refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• For the pastry: In a medium saucepan, combine shortening and water and bring to a boil. Sift together 1 cup flour and a pinch of salt and pour all at once into boiling mixture. Stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat, and add eggs, one at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet, or pipe into desired shape.
• Bake 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and bake 25 minutes more, or until golden. Cool completely, split, fill with custard, and replace tops.

CHOCOLATE-GLAZED RASPBERRY CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• Make 1 recipe large Pastry Puffs. Use a toothpick or skewer to make a 1/4-inch-wide hole in bottom of each puff. In a medium bowl, whip 1 cup heavy cream to firm peaks; fold in raspberry jam and brandy (if using). Transfer mixture to a large zip-top bag and snip a 1/4-inch opening in one corner. Place cut corner of bag in hole in puff and squeeze to fill puff with cream mixture. Place filled puffs, hole side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. (Refrigerate while you make the glaze.)
• In a medium heatproof bowl, combine chocolate and corn syrup. In a small saucepan, bring remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream just to a boil. Immediately pour over chocolate and let sit 2 minutes. Stir until mixture is smooth. Dip top half of each puff into chocolate glaze (or pour on top) and place, glaze side up, on baking sheet. Refrigerate, uncovered, 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours).

CREAM PUFFS WITH RASPBERRY CRAQUELIN AND WHIPPED CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Steps:

• For the chocolate mousse: Whip the cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Set aside.
• Whisk together the whole egg, egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, salt and 1 tablespoon water in a medium heatproof bowl until combined. Set the bowl over a medium saucepan of gently simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water). Whisk constantly until the mixture is pale, hot to the touch and has almost doubled in volume, 4 to 6 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a silicone spatula, if necessary. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until cooled, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
• Put the chocolate in another medium heatproof bowl and set over the saucepan of gently simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water). Stir occasionally with a silicone spatula until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and gently stir for about 3 minutes to cool slightly.
• Whisk the egg mixture into the melted chocolate in 3 additions until combined. (The mixture may get very thick.) It's important that the chocolate mixture is not warm or it may seize up when combined with the whipped cream. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture in 3 additions with a rubber spatula until it is fully incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled through, about 1 hour and up to overnight.
• For the raspberry craquelin: Pulse the brown sugar and freeze-dried raspberries together in a food processor until finely chopped and bright pink. Add the butter and a pinch of salt and pulse until blended and smooth. Add the flour, then continue to pulse until moist. Pulse in the vanilla until combined. The mixture should be crumbly but hold together when pinched. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of parchment and form into a disk. Top with another sheet of parchment and roll the dough between the 2 sheets until about 1/8 inch thick (see Cook's Note). Freeze until chilled through, about 30 minutes, then stamp out 40 rounds with a 1 1/2-inch cutter. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until ready to assemble.
• For the cream puffs: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
• Combine 1 cup water with the butter, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When the mixture boils, immediately add all the flour at once and stir with a wooden spoon until it is fully incorporated and smooth, about 1 minute. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 30 seconds more.
• Scrape the mixture into a large bowl. Add 1 of the eggs at a time and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed after each addition until completely incorporated and the dough is thick and smooth.
• Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a medium round tip. Pipe 40 circular mounds of dough (about 1 1/2 inches wide and 1 inch tall), about 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Dip your finger in water and dab each mound to smooth the top. Top each with a round of raspberry craquelin.
• Bake until the bottoms of the puffs are lightly golden brown and the craquelin spreads and crackles over each puff, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, 20 to 25 minutes (see Cook's Note). Let the puffs cool completely on the baking sheets.
• Whip the chilled chocolate mousse with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, lightened and pipeable. Transfer to a pastry bag with a medium star tip.
• Assemble the cream puffs: Cut each puff in half horizontally with a sharp serrated knife. Pipe the mousse onto the bottom halves, then sandwich with the top halves and serve.
• Cook's Note: When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)
• Make sure to roll the craquelin into a thin layer, about 1/8-inch thick. Any thicker and the craquelin won't melt and crack over the puffs like a traditional craquelin.
• Do not overbake the craquelin, or the color will change from a beautiful merlot color to brown.

RASPBERRY CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• For the cream puffs: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Put the butter, granulated sugar, salt and 3/4 cup water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as it boils, take off the heat and add the flour. Mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixtures comes together and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until slightly cooled. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. After adding the last egg, beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Use a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop to place rounds about 1/2 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake the cream puffs for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and continue to bake until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely, then use a serrated knife to cut the puffs in half.
• For the filling: Beat the cream, mascarpone and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until it just holds stiff peaks, then gently fold in the jam.
• When ready to serve, use a large spoon to dollop the cream on the bottom half of the puffs and add 1 raspberry to each. Then top with the other half of the puff.