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Thread ID: 95341	2008-12-02 22:27:00	Let's Trade Some Recipes.............	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

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725311	2008-12-03 21:45:00	WARNING!!!! MORE THAN 20 WORDS!!!!!! CREAM PUFFS (The French filling a little further down the page) This looks hard and has a lot of instructions, but I included some comments that make it a larger text than the original recipe . These are from my experiences and should help . I'd read it over a few times to get acquainted with what''s happening and then try it . You can actually make the puffs one day and the filling the next if it sounds like too much to get it done in one shot . § Butter and flour one very large or two small baking sheets, or line with parchment paper . INGREDIENTS • 1 cup water • 4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, sweet/unsalted! • 1/4 tsp . iodized salt • 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (NOTE: I like to use 1/2 All-Purpose and 1/2 Bread-type flour though) • 4 large eggs • 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten • 2 Tbsp . whole milk • 2 cups real whipping cream, whipped with real vanilla extract and sugar (see below) • Sifted powdered sugar 1 . Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees . Make sure this is the REAL temperature with an oven thermometer! It's critical! 2 . Pour water into heavy (copper-bottom, if you have it) saucepan . Cut butter into small pieces and add to water . Add salt . Place saucepan over medium-low heat so butter melts before water boils . Bring water just to boil . DO NOT BOIL THE BUTTER/WATER! 3 . Remove pan from the flame and add flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until dough forms into a ball and bottom of pan is filmed with flour . I like to gently re-heat the mix if I feel it's getting too cool . If you feel so too, just hover the pan a few inches over the flame and let it re-warm a little, but do not stop mixing it! THIS WILL TAKE A WHILE AND SOME SERIOUS ARM WORK! It should darken a little when it gets close to the right temperature (toward brown) and will try to stick a little on the sides . SCRAPE IT DOWN AND BACK INTO THE MIX! I will also form a somewhat firm, sticky ball of mixture when it's right . You are actually "cooking" the flour here and if you don't do it enough, the puffs will not rise and will dribble onto the cookie pan like a thick liquid because the next ingredient will make it thinner and more liquid-like . If you cook it too much, the puffs will not rise very well and will stay at the size it is, not rising during the baking process . Let this dough rest 5 minutes to lower it's temperature so it will not overheat and pre-cook the next added ingredient! 4 . Add in the whole eggs, beating in one egg at a time . Dough should be stiff but smooth and will trap some air in it, somewhat changing the color again . The eggs must NOT get cooked at this point and that's the reason for letting the dough batch cool before you added them . 5 . Immediately drop 1/4 cupfuls of dough 3 inches apart on the baking sheet(s) . (Or for a neater appearance, use pastry bag with 3/4-inch plain tip and pipe dough onto baking sheet . ) They will not be smooth! Don't bother trying to make them smooth either! MOVE QUICKLY THOUGH WHATEVER METHOD YOU USE . 6 . Combine the one single egg yolk and milk in a small bowl . . don't whip or beat too much! . Brush each puff with this glaze mixture, taking care not to let liquid drip onto pan . 7 . Bake 35 minutes, until puffed, golden brown and firm . Don't open the oven to look for at least 20 minutes though, or they might drop! 8 . Cool puffs on wire racks, pricking each with a cake tester or toothpick to allow steam to escape, or leave them in a turned-off oven with the door propped open for about an hour, until firm . This will dry them so that they won't be soggy . (If baked pastry is filled before cool and firm, it will be soggy and may collapse . ) Baked puffs should have hollow, moist interiors and crisp outer shells that are lightly browned . 9 . Cut off tops, fill with French Vanilla Cream (use pastry bag with star tip or scoop the French Vanilla cream with a large spoon) . I like to open just the side of the puffs and inject the filling, but you can do it either way . 10 . Dust the tops with some powdered sugar I then dribble a little cocoa and melted butter with some powdered sugar mixture onto the tops too . Here's the way to make that chocolate sauce for the top: 1/8 cup of powdered cocoa 1/4 stick of sweet butter or margarine 1/4 cup of powdered sugar . This will make a thin, liquid-like mixture that solidifies a little . In a double boiler (a smaller pan inside a larger pan that has boiling water in it so the inner pan gets the heat, but no higher that 212ºF), melt the butter and sugar mixture together . Add cocoa or even chipped pieces of baker's chocolate squares into the mix, a small amount at a time for taste . Allow to cool a little (a film will form on the top if it's done correctly) and then pour or drizzle over the pastry after it's been dusted with powdered sugar . Now . . . here's the recipe for the French Vanilla Filling Ingredients: * 1 ½ cups milk * 1/8 cup cornstarch * 1/4 cup sugar * 1/4 teaspoon salt * 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract (SEE NOTE ON VANILLA, BELOW!) Preparation: Pre-freeze a 3 or 4 quart stainless steel or pure copper bowl in the freezer . It must be perfectly free of oils, finger prints and food smears! It must be clean! WE USE THIS IN THE VERY LAST PART OF THIS FILLING RECIPE, SO KEEP IT COLD FOR A WHILE, UNTIL YOU NEED IT . Pre-mix the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a small dry bowl or cup Scald 2/3s of the milk . This is using a single-pan directly over a medium sized flame, until the milk just sizzles a little on the sides, stirring constantly . It will thicken a little - watch for that to happen and pull the pan off the fire! Add and fold in the cornstarch, sugar and salt mixture ; stir in the remaining 1/3 of the milk . Add to scalded milk and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth . Continue cooking vanilla pudding for about 5 minutes to thoroughly cook cornstarch . Cornstarch is a thickening agent and needs to cook for it to form a smooth, jelly-like consistency . NOTE: YOU HAVE NOT ADDED THE VANILLA YET!!!! Cool vanilla pudding slightly; NOW gently stir (fold) in the vanilla . VANILLA NOTE: If you use real vanilla, the alcohol content is higher than artificial vanilla . You need to be careful here, and the alcohol content is either going to soften the mixture too much if it's a high-proof, or not enough if it isn't high-proof enough . You should use the taste of the vanilla as a gauge for the true alcohol proof . Real (ie: Mexican) vanilla is very high on proof, and you would use about 1/2 as much as a lesser-proof (cheaper, artificial) type! New we use the frozen bowl . Take it out of the freezer and run a warm towel (warmed with tap water) around on the outsides of it for a moment or two, just to take the ultra cold off it . Quickly add real whipping cream to it and with your electric mixer set at it's highest speed, mix the cream until it gently peaks and stays in shape . This may take a few minutes, but don't go beyond a semi-firm peak though . Do NOT add any sugar or flavor to this whipped cream . Fold in equal amounts of the whipped cream to the vanilla filling, gently! Do not beat it too hard or it will separate and make a mess . It's better to UNDER-fold the mix than over-fold it . This is your filling and it will be glistening and even-colored if it's done right . From this point, you will insert it by the method of your choice into the puffs . If you eat these in the next hour or so, you don't have to refrigerate them, but after that, they must be kept cold or the cream will sour . I bet they get eaten within the hour though	SurferJoe46 (51)
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