Chocolate Cream Puffs

Made by Renee Cade

Tools

  • Sauce Pan
  • Pastry Bag
  • Sheet Pan
  • Round Pastry Tip
  • Thermometer 
  • Whisk
  • Standing Mixer
  • Paddle Attachment
  • Wooden Spoon


Cooking Time

2 Hours
Makes 24 Servings

Ingredients

Directions

Chocolate Ganache
  1. Heat cream to 190°F, you should see a slight skin form on the surface.
  2. Pour over chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and let sit for 1-2 minutes to let the chocolate melt.
  3. Whisk the mixture until emulsified and let cool at room temperature.
Pastry Cream
  1. Combine sugar and elsay powder.  Set aside.
  2. In a saucepan, heat half + half and vanilla to 190°F.  When your liquid is close to temperature, slowly whisk your sugar mixture into your eggs and egg yolks. 
  3. Use half of the liquid to temper the eggs by slowly pouring a stream of the hot liquid into the eggs while whisking constantly so you don't scramble eggs!
  4. Whisk the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk and cook on medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat immediately and pour into a new bowl.
  5. Add butter and whisk to emulsify. Cover with plastic wrap touching the pastry cream and let cool.
  6. Add ganache to pastry cream to desired chocolateyness.  Note:  Reserve some ganache for dipping!
Choux Paste
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
  2. Heat water, milk, salt, and butter in a large saucepan on medium heat until salt dissolves and butter is melted. Don't let the mixture boil, you don't want too much of your liquid to evaporate!
  3. Add flour and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or spatula until smooth. Constantly stir mixture over medium heat until a skin forms at the bottom of the pan.
  4. Transfer dough to a standing mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on lowest setting for a few minutes until you can no longer see steam rising off the dough.
  5. While mixing on medium-low speed, add one egg at a time until smooth and fully incorporated. Note: You may need a little more or a little less egg depending on the moisture levels of your dough. Scrape the bowl and insert the paddle attachment into the center of the dough and pull up, the dough should form a "V" and should be fairly elastic (shouldn't tear).
  6. Using a piping bag with a round tip, pipe dough about ¾" wide and ¾" tall for bite-size pieces.
  7. Bake until puffed up and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool.
Assembly
  1. Using a small star pastry tip, poke holes into the bottom of the puffs.
  2. Fill each puff with the same tip until full.
  3. Warm ganache up until melted.  Dip the tops of each puff in the ganache and sprinkle with cacao nibs!
  4. Let set and serve!