Cream Puffs and Filling

 Choux translates to cabbage in French and pate also means head or ball. Pate Choux is cabbage-like balls that is a light pastry dough. Pate Choux dough is hollow allowing to be filled. This dough is different in that it is cooked twice. Once on the stove and again in the oven. The cream puffs were made by adding water, salt, and butter to a slight boil. The flour was slowly added. The flour is the gluten source that will create the structure for the cream puff. The flour was rolled into a ball. This dough’s consistency was very sticky and a cream color. The dough was sticky from the liquid ingredients outnumbering the flour. The dough was removed from the heat to prevent from over cooking and cooking the eggs. Eggs were added one at a time to transition the dough into smooth textured dough. The eggs were the source of glue  to hold the dough together. After six eggs were added, the dough was more of a paste. The paste was transferred to a bag and piped onto a baking sheet. In the case of the cream puff’s, air is the leavener. A cream puff is one large air pocket. The end product was a light, hollow dough. The inner structure of the dough was light and string-like. The dough has a different taste than other pastries. It is not sweet, but more of a buttery flavor. The cream puffs cooked for 30 minutes. The dough is not cooked until the ridges and valley’s are a golden brown (McGee, 552). 

Melting Butter

Adding the eggs (sticky dough)

After eggs have been added, more paste like.

Ready to pipe!

Cream Puffs pre-baking

Inner Structure

The pastry cream for the cream puffs was similar to the vanilla pudding made earlier in the semester. The sugar was added to the cornstarch. Cornstarch is a thickening agent and is made up of pure starch from a corn grain. When the cornstarch is added to the eggs, the starch absorbs the water from the eggs and clumps up. In another pan, boil the milk and vanilla. The egg mixture is slowly added to the milk as to not scramble to eggs. Keeping stirring the mixture while tempering the egg mixture. Pour the combination back into the saucepan and continue heating till the mixture thickens. At this point, the filling is a thick cream. Whipped whipping cream will be added to give the filling the light and fluffy consistency. The filling took three tries to end up with a successful product. The first attempt resulted in scrambled eggs and the second try ended when the milk was burned. The filling is an excellent example of the precision required for baking and pastry making.

Finished Product

Corn Starch

Cream Filling

Tempering the Egg Mixture

Filling thickening

McGee, A. (2005). On food and cooking, the science and lore of the kitchen. Scribner Book Company.