Cream Puffs (Choux à la Crème)
Choux à la crème Say it: shoo ah lah KREM
Choux à la crème are France’s beloved cream puffs: airy, golden domes of choux pastry filled with silky vanilla pastry cream. They are a staple of French pâtisseries and home celebrations, eaten as a dessert or teatime treat. The pastry is crisp outside and almost hollow within, while the chilled cream adds richness and a delicate vanilla perfume. Making them at home is simpler than it looks: a cooked dough, piped rounds, and a hot oven do most of the work. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
Cream Puffs (Choux à la Crème)
Choux à la crème
Pronounced shoo ah lah KREM
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total
- 1 hr 15 min
- Level
- Medium
Also nut-free.
Allergens: contains gluten, milk, egg. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
Choux pastry
Pastry cream
To finish
Method
Start the pastry cream. in a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until smooth and pale. Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it steams and small bubbles form at the edge; do not let it boil hard.
Slowly pour about 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the hot milk into the yolk mixture while whisking, then return everything to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the cream thickens and bubbles gently; boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
Stir in the vanilla and butter until melted and glossy. Scrape the pastry cream into a bowl, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.
Make the choux. preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment. In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar; heat over medium until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a full simmer.
Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides, about 1–2 minutes. Cook for another minute over low heat to dry it slightly, then scrape into a bowl and cool for 5 minutes.
Beat the 4 eggs in a small bowl. Add the eggs gradually to the warm dough, mixing well after each addition, until the dough is smooth, glossy, and thick enough to hold a soft peak; it should fall from the spoon in a slow V. You may not need every drop of egg.
Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) round tip. Pipe 12 to 14 rounds, each about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) wide, onto the prepared sheet, spacing them 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Smooth the tops with a wet fingertip and brush lightly with the egg wash.
Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake until deep golden brown and puffed, 12 to 15 minutes more. Prick each puff on the side with a skewer and bake for 5 minutes longer to dry the interior. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
Whisk the chilled pastry cream until smooth. Poke a small hole in the base of each cooled puff and pipe in the pastry cream until the puff feels heavy. Dust generously with powdered sugar just before serving.
Regional variant: Profiteroles
For profiteroles, bake the same choux puffs and let them cool. Fill each with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream instead of pastry cream, freeze for 20 minutes, and serve with warm chocolate sauce made by melting 4 oz (115 g) dark chocolate with 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream and 1 tbsp (14 g) butter.
Cook's notes
- Weigh the flour and eggs if possible; choux depends on the dough’s consistency more than an exact egg count.
- Do not open the oven during the first 20 minutes, or the puffs can collapse.
- Fill the puffs shortly before serving so the pastry stays crisp.
Serve with
Serve as a dessert or teatime treat with coffee, tea, or a small glass of dessert wine.
Make ahead and storage
Pastry cream keeps refrigerated for up to 2 days; baked unfilled puffs freeze well for 1 month. Fill and dust just before serving.
