Strawberry Matcha Cream Puffs (Choux au Craquelin)

A strawberry matcha creme puff on a plate

Strawberry Matcha Cream Puffs (Choux au Craquelin)

This delicious Asian fusion spin on the traditional French choux au craquelin is a matcha lovers dream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Asian Fusion, French

Keyword cream puff, french pastry, matcha, strawberry

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 5

Servings cream puffs

Calories 293kcal

Author Takes Two Eggs

Ingredients

Craquelin Cookie

9 tablespoon (120 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (120 g) all-purpose flour
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (120 g) granulated sugar

Choux Pastry

1 cup (250 g) water
½ cup (112 g) salted butter
1 cup (135 g) all-purpose flour
5 large eggs ~275 g may need less depending on the size of the eggs

Strawberry Pastry Cream

2 cups diced strawberries
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoon sugar
2 cups (500) g milk
4 ½ tablespoon (38 g) cornstarch
2 large egg yolks 36-40 g
½ cup (107 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla extract
½ cup (120 g) salted butter

Matcha Diplomat Cream

1 cup (250 g) heavy whipping cream
1 cup (290 g) pastry cream
2-3 teaspoon matcha powder based on color preference

Instructions

Craquelin Cookie

Beat butter and sugar. In a mixing bowl or using your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar and food coloring (if using) on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
Mix in the flour. Scrape down the bowl. Pour in the flour and continue mixing until no dry flour remains and a damp, crumbly meal has formed.
Shape the dough. Use your hands and bring the dough together to form a ball. Place dough on parchment paper and roll the dough into a 6x8 rectangle. Cover the dough with a second sheet of parchment paper and roll out the dough into a 1/8 inch thick rectangle about 12x14 inches. Transfer dough to a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour or until solid.

Choux Pastry

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or slipmat baking liners.
Boil butter and water. In a medium saucepan, on medium heat melt the butter and water. Bring to a boil/simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to low and quickly stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir until a dough is formed. The dough should look similar to mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and transfer contents to a large mixing bowl to cool about 5 min.
Incorporate in the eggs one at a time. Add each egg one at a time and stir vigorously to entirely incorporate each egg before adding the next egg. The dough will curdle and separate but continue mixing until it comes together before adding the next egg. The dough will be the right consistency if it is thick, shiny, smooth, and pipe-able.
Pipe onto a baking tray and add craquelin. On a silicone baking mat, either use an ice cream scoop or pipe the pastry at a 90° angle into 2-inch rounds. The dough should hold its shape when piped. Leave about 1-2 inches between each choux. Take the frozen craquelin sheet out and use a 2-inch cookie cutter to cut out the discs. Place the craquelin discs on top of each choux.
Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes or until puffed and golden browned. For best results, bake one baking sheet at a time. Do NOT open the oven door until the shells are golden brown if you open the door too early this may risk deflating the shells. Turn off the oven, let the tray rest in the oven with the door partially open for 10-15 minutes for optimal crispiness. Remove from oven and let cool completely before filling.

Strawberry Pastry Cream

Make the strawberry sauce. In a small saucepan, mix together the chopped strawberries, sugar, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch, and lemon and simmer until reduced and the strawberries have softened into a sauce. Mix occasionally for about 10-15 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve bowl and set aside to cool.
Whisk ingredients together. In a mixing bowl, whisk the 4 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch, sugar, and egg yolk together until combined.
Simmer the milk and mix with egg mixture. In a medium saucepan, pour in the milk and cook on medium heat until it simmers. Pour the milk into the egg mixture and while stirring constantly temper the eggs.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Bring the saucepan to medium heat and continue mixing until the mixture thickens into a custard consistency.
Add in butter and vanilla. Once the cream has thickened, turn down the heat to low and add the butter and vanilla extract. Stir until butter is melted. Once the butter has melted, stop stirring and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.
Set aside cream for matcha diplomat cream. Take out 1 cup of vanilla pastry cream and set aside for matcha diplomat cream.
Make strawberry pastry cream. Add 3-5 tablespoons of the cooled strawberry sauce (to taste) to the original bowl and gently mix with a spatula until just combined.
Cover and chill. Cover with plastic wrap by pressing the plastic onto the surface of the custard to prevent skin from forming and place in the refrigerator to cool. Then transfer into a piping bag.

Matcha Diplomat Cream

Whip heavy cream and matcha. In a chilled mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream and sifted matcha powder until blended. Use an electric mixer and beat cold whipping cream until it turns into stiff peaks
Add in vanilla pastry cream. Add in the COOLED pastry cream from above. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold in an upward motion to combine without deflating too much air out of the whipped cream

Assembly.

Once the cream puffs have cooled, slice the tops off of the cream puffs. Pipe the matcha diplomat cream into the cream puffs until 3/4 full. Then take the strawberry pastry cream piping bag and pipe a ball right in the center of the cream puff until filled. Use the remaining diplomat cream to pipe design on the top of the cream puff.

Notes

For the Craquelin: Make sure the craquelin is cold and sold before placing it on top of the choux pastry. To get that even craquelin across the entire cream puff, you will need a craquelin that is large enough to cover the piping of the choux pastry or else the choux pastry will outgrow the craquelin and will come out like a little Frankenstein cream puff.

For the Choux: make sure the butter and water are boiling before adding the flour. This is a crucial step in order to have the cream puffs rise and create that airy center. The dough is leavened with steam rather than a chemical leavening agent (baking powder or soda) so the steam is VERY important.
Cool the dough after the stove before adding the eggs. This will prevent the eggs from cooking directly in the dough and creating scrambled eggs.
Mix in each egg completely before adding the next egg. When mixing the eggs in the choux pastry, make sure to put your arm muscles to use by thoroughly mixing each egg in before adding the next one. The eggs will make the dough slimy and separate them but it will come together again if you continue mixing.
Don't open the oven while it bakes. Wait until the choux pastry has puffed up and reached its maximum height before turning off the oven and slightly opening the oven to cool and get its crispy outer shell.
For the pastry cream. Keep a close eye on the saucepan when you are mixing the ingredients. You want the cream to thicken but not curdle and create scrambled eggs. Keep mixing until thickened to prevent curdling. Once the texture is thickened immediately stop stirring and strain through a sieve to sift out the cooked egg bits.
Use cold heavy whipping cream. For the matcha diplomat cream, it is best to use cold straight from the refrigerator whipping cream. This will make whipping the cream so much easier and quicker.

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