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Vanilla Cream Puffs (Choux Au Craquelin)

It is love at first sight with these angelic cloud-like vanilla cream puffs that came straight down from French pastry heaven. This buttery, vanilla, custard-filled choux pastry will level up your baking skills from 0-100. BONUS! They are an instant fan favorite.
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword choux cream, choux puff, cream filled pastry, cream puff custard, cream puff filling, cream puff pastry, cream puffs
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 45 minutes
Chill time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 423kcal
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 volume of the eggs

Vanilla Pastry Cream

  • 2 cups (500 g) whole milk
  • 3 ½ (32 g) tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 large egg yolks ~40 g
  • ½ cup (107 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons (21 g) vanilla extract
  • ½ cup (120 g) salted butter 1 stick

Vanilla Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup (250 g) heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ cup (25 g) powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon (3 g) vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon (3 g) gelatin (optional)
  • 1 ½ tablespoon (22 g) water (optional for gelatin)
  • 1 teaspoon (5 g) heavy cream (optional for gelatin)

Instructions

Craquelin

  • Beat butter and sugar. In a mixing bowl or using your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar 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 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 about 2-4 minutes. 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 cookie dough. On a silicone baking mat, either use an ice cream scoop or pipe the pastry at a 90° angle into about 1.5-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 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.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

  • Whisk ingredients together. In a mixing bowl, whisk the milk, cornstarch, sugar, and egg yolk together until combined.
  • Simmer the milk and mix with egg mixture. In a medium saucepan, pour in the mixture and cook on medium-low heat whisking constantly until it thickens up and simmers.
  • 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.
  • 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 with a 1/2 inch round tip.

Vanilla Whipped Cream

  • If using gelatin, add the water to a small heat-proof bowl. Then sprinkle the gelatin across the top, mix and let the gelatin bloom for 5-10 minutes. Then microwave the gelatin for 5-10 seconds or until dissolved. Add 1 tsp of heavy cream to chill the gelatin.
  • Whip heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. In a chilled mixing bowl, using an electric mixer beat the heavy cream until frothy. Then add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. If using gelatin, slowly pour the cooled gelatin in when the cream is at soft peaks and mix until combined and until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over whip where the cream is thick and chunky.
  • Transfer to a piping bag with a star tip. Set aside.

Assembly

  • Once the cream puffs have cooled, slice the tops off of the cream puffs. Pipe vanilla pastry cream into the cream puffs until 3/4 of the way full. Then take the vanilla whipped cream piping bag and pipe a design. Place the cut lid of the cream puff back on top.

Notes

Tips for The Craquelin Top

  • Make sure to freeze the cookie layer until it hardens for the easiest application. Also, make sure that the cookie is 1/8 inch thick and has a diameter that is wider than the choux diameter. Any thinner and the cream puff may break through the cookie and you will lose that perfect mound.

Tips For the Choux Pastry

  • 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.
  • Pipe the dough using a wide round piping tip at a 90-degree angle using even pressure. This step is important to create uniform cream puffs.
  • 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.

Tips For the Pastry Cream and Whipped 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 whipped cream. It is best to use cold straight from the refrigerator whipping cream. This will make whipping the cream so much easier and quicker.
  • If using gelatin, make sure the heavy cream is at soft peaks before pouring in the gelatin. You will want to chill the gelatin with a tablespoon of heavy cream before pouring in the gelatin to prevent the gelatin from clumping.

Nutrition

Calories: 423kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 170mg | Sodium: 133mg | Potassium: 132mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 1001IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 1mg