Choux à la Crème

5 from 1 vote

Prepare to fall head over heels for my authentic Choux à la Crème. These light and airy French cream puffs are delightfully crackly on top, tender in the middle, and stuffed with crème diplomate and whipped cream for an elegant, bite-sized treat that’s sure to wow.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: Choux

Calories: 163kcal

Author: Emily Laurae

Equipment

Ingredients

Cream Puff Craquelin

200 g Unsalted Butter Room Temperature
200 g Light Brown Sugar
⅓ teaspoon Kosher Salt
200 g Bread Flour

Cream Puffs

150 g Water
6 g Milk Powder
67 g Butter
82 g Bread Flour
⅓ teaspoon Salt
130 g Eggs (just under 3 eggs, whisk the eggs to combine then measure 130g)

Assembly

Instructions

Cream Puff Craquelin

Add the butter, brown sugar, salt and bread flour in a bowl and mix until combined.
200 g Unsalted Butter, 200 g Light Brown Sugar, ⅓ teaspoon Kosher Salt, 200 g Bread Flour
Roll out the craquelin between two pieces of parchment paper until ⅛ of an inch thick and place in the freezer to firm and chill.

Cream Puffs

Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a small pot, bring your water, milk powder and butter to a simmer/slight boil.
150 g Water, 6 g Milk Powder, 67 g Butter
Add the flour and salt into your pot at once continuing to cook on high heat and stirring the mixture with a spatula continuously until a dough starts to form and a thin film appears at the base of the pot. This should take 3-5 minutes and the dough should reach 175F.
82 g Bread Flour, ⅓ teaspoon Salt
Place the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer and using a paddle attachment, start to mix in order to cool down the dough to 145F.
Add eggs to the choux dough one at a time, continuously mixing with the paddle attachment. You'll know that your dough is at the right consistency when the dough forms a V-shape as it hangs off the spatula and/or paddle attachment.
130 g Eggs
Transfer the choux dough to a piping bag and snip off the tip of the bag to create a ½ inch opening.
Pipe one-inch rounds of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet leaving space between each cream puff - two to three inches. Leave at least 3 inches in between each dollop for when the choux will begin to inflate (about 6 on each baking sheet).
Take the frozen cream puff craquelin out of the freezer and use a 2-inch round cutter to cut circles of crust out. Then, gently place one disc on top of your piped batter.
Place the cream puffs into the oven baking for 5 minutes before turning down the temperature to 350°F for an additional 25 minutes or until browned. Then, crack the oven and allow the choux to cool naturally within the oven for about 20 minutes.

Assembly

With a serrated knife, cut the tops off of each choux puff.
Pipe the diplomat cream into the choux cavity, and top with whipped cream.
Whipped Cream, Creme Diplomate
Place the top on each cream puff and enjoy!

Notes

How should I store choux a la creme?

I don’t recommend assembling cream puffs until you’re ready to serve them. However, if you’d like to get a jump on party preparations, you can bake and cool the choux shells, then store them in an airtight container or zip top bag in the freezer. You can also prepare the creme legere in advance — it’ll keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Expert Tips

Use a guide. I have a baking mat that is marked with 2-inch rounds, which helps me pipe out macarons and cream puffs that are equally sized. If you don’t have one, you can easily make your own by using parchment paper, a pencil, and a 2-inch biscuit cutter or cookie cutter (whatever you’re using to cut the craquelin toppers). If you use this method, make sure to flip the parchment over so you don’t get any graphite in the mix.
No piping bag? No problem! You can either use a zip-top bag with the corner snipped off, or make a pastry bag with parchment paper.
Let the baked choux puffs cool completely to room temperature before cutting open and filling them. This will both prevent the cream puffs from drying out and prevent the creme legere and whipped cream from melting into a soggy mess.

Nutrition