Pâte à Choux with Cinnamon-Vanilla Chantilly Cream

Slofoodgroup Team July 28, 2019

Cinnamon and Vanilla Chantilly Cream paired with light and airy Pâte à Choux

Pâte à Choux (pronounced “pat a shoo”) is a French pastry dough that sounds about 100 times more complicated than it actually is. To make it, you need the simplest of ingredients (eggs, milk, butter, and sugar) that you probably always have on-hand, and no special tools or equipment. The batter comes together in about 10 minutes and forms the base for so many delicious recipes. It can go savory with the addition of some grated Gruyere – creating cheese puffs or “gougeres”– and it shines in such desserts as eclairs, profiteroles, and these classic cream puffs.   

You can fill them with anything you like – pastry cream, ice cream, and mousse are all divine. We went classic with a twist here, using a Chantilly cream flavored with ground cinnamon in addition to the Madagascar vanilla.
 
As the recipe yields almost 1 ½ dozen pastries, it’s perfect for serving a crowd. You can even bake them the day before and then slice and fill just before serving!

Pâte à Choux with Cinnamon-Vanilla Chantilly Cream

Ingredients

Pâte à Choux dough

1 cup all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoon + 1/2 cup water, divided 
5 large eggs 
1/2 cup milk (any kind will do) 
1 stick (8 tablespoons, or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter 
2 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Cinnamon and Vanilla Bean Chantilly

2 cups well-chilled heavy cream 
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, plus extra for dusting 
1 Madagascar Vanilla bean scraped (seeds removed) 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  dough1 cup all-purpose flour 
1 tablespoon + 1/2 cup water, divided 
5 large eggs 
1/2 cup milk (any kind will do) 
1 stick (8 tablespoons, or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter 
2 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

 

Procedure

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and mist the paper very lightly with water; set aside.
2. Place the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Fit a plain 1/2” tip into a pastry bag (or snip a 1/2” opening in the corner of a heavy duty Ziploc bag).
3. Beat 1 tablespoon of water with 1 of the eggs; set aside. Crack the remaining 4 eggs into a small bowl (do not beat); set aside.
4. Place the remaining 1/2 cup water, milk, butter, granulated sugar, and salt in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Immediately transfer to your mixer and beat until the flour is completely incorporated. Let cool for 2 - 3 minutes.
5. With the mixer running on medium speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, until you have a smooth and glossy dough. The dough will come apart and look curdled after the addition of each egg but will quickly come back together. Transfer the dough to your pastry bag.
6. Pipe 2” mounds onto your baking sheets and smooth down any peaks with a slightly dampened finger. Brush with your beaten egg mixture and bake for 20 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Beat the heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a plain or fluted tip (or simply spoon the whipped cream into the pastries).
8. Use a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion to slice off the top third of each pastry.
9. Fill with the Chantilly cream replace the tops, and dust with additional confectioner’s sugar.
10. Serve immediately, relax and enjoy the smile on everyones face as they bite into your delectable vanilla bean and cinnamon morsels.  

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