BASIC CREAM PUFFS

Basic Cream Puffs image

This absolutely classic dessert starts with a Pâte à Choux made from flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. The mixture is piped and baked into individual cream puffs, then the real sweetness starts. Lightened pastry cream fills each puff, which are topped with icing or powdered sugar and nuts.

Provided by Martha Stewart

Categories Food & Cooking Dessert & Treats Recipes

Yield Makes 90

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

1 recipe Pastry Cream for Eclairs
1 recipe Pate a Choux
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Crystal sanding sugar (optional)
Chopped nuts (optional)
Oil, for plastic wrap
3/4 cup heavy cream
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon water
1 drop pink food coloring
Silver dragees, for decorating

Steps:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with a rack in the center. Line two unrimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats.
Make Pastry Cream, and refrigerate. Make Pate a Choux batter. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a coupler or 1/2-inch (Ateco #806) tip, and pipe 1-inch rounds onto baking sheets at 2-inch intervals. Using fingers, rub egg wash over entire top, and flatten tips, being careful not to let it drip onto the surrounding baking sheet (it will inhibit rising). Sprinkle with crystal sanding sugar or chopped nuts, if desired.
Cover one sheet with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator. Transfer the other to the oven. Bake 10 minutes; reduce oven heat to 350 degrees. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until puffs are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to let cool slightly. Raise heat back to 425 degrees, and repeat process for remaining batch.
Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks in a small bowl. Stir pastry cream to soften. Add whipped cream to pastry cream in two batches; stir to combine after each. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a coupler and filling tip (Ateco #230). Insert tip into the underside of each cream puff, and fill. Cool completely before dusting with confectioners' sugar or applying icing.
To make icing, combine sugar, butter, and water in a medium bowl. Stir until smooth. Add the food coloring a little at a time until desired color is reached. Dip the top of cooled cream puffs into icing; let excess drip off before turning over. Let set a few minutes; decorate with a dragee. Serve, or store up to 2 hours in an airtight container in the refrigerator.