Maple Cream Puffs

Directions

Craquelin

1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix with rubber spatula until smooth.
2. Roll out the craquelin dough to 1/8-inch in thickness. Use a cookie cutter and cut out 12 1.5-inch circles. Set aside.

Pâte à Choux

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Bring to a light boil, remove from heat, and immediately add in all the flour. Quickly stir in the flour, using a rubber spatula, and return saucepan back over medium-high heat. 
3. Continue to stir the mixture, without stopping, until the paste is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. It will pull away from the sides of the pan and leave a thin coating of cooked paste on the bottom when ready. The texture should resemble dry mashed potatoes.
4. Transfer the paste to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low for the choux to cool down.
5. While the mixer is running on medium, gradually stream in the lightly beaten eggs. Mix until well combined.
6. Transfer the pâte à choux to the prepared piping bag with a round tip. Pipe out 12 choux mounds onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving roughly 2 inches between each puff. If you are making choux with a craquelin top, this is when you want to add the craquelin to the choux mounds.
7. Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately bake choux puffs for 35 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and turn down the oven to 325F, then bake for 10 minutes more until choux are deeply golden. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack to cool.

Maple Pastry Cream

1. Combine milk and cream in a small saucepan.
2. Using a sharp knife, split vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out seeds. Add bean and seeds to milk mixture.
3. Place mixture over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat. Remove vanilla beans from milk mixture. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cornstarch, and maple syrup.
5. Slowly stream the hot milk mixture over egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
6. Return mixture to saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 10 - 15 minutes or until custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

1. Finely chop the white chocolate and place into a bowl.
2. In a saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Once mixture has boiled, pour milk mixture over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 1 minute.
3. Whisk the chocolate mixture until thoroughly melted and combined. Set in the refrigerator to chill, at least 4 hours.
4. Once chilled and ready to use, transfer the ganache to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip ganache to medium-stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round pastry tip to pipe into choux pastries once baked.

Assembly

1. With a sharp serrated knife, cut choux as you would a sandwich.
2. Pipe the choux cavity with maple pastry cream until it reaches the brim of the bottom choux half.
3. Pipe two layers of whipped white chocolate ganache.
4. Top cream puff with other choux half like a hat.

Optional: drizzle a simple glaze and top with sprinkles of choice.

A recipe developed by our foodie influencer @constellationinspiration