Ingredients
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Choux pastry:
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250 g Milk
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125 g all purpose flour
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80 g Butter
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4 pcs Eggs
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1 pinch Salt
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Craquelin:
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50 g Butter
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60 g Brown Sugar
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60 g all purpose flour
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Vanilla pastry cream:
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500 g Milk
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110 Sugar
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4 p Egg Yolks
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30 g cornstarch
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20 g all purpose flour
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1 tbsp cocoa powder
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25 g Butter
Directions
Choux au Craquelin is a classic French dessert made with choux pastry that is both crunchy on the outside and super creamy inside. This recipe has been provided by French Pastry Chef Jean-Baptiste Lucas, who runs a pastry & baking school in Bangkok, Thailand.
Chef Lucas recommends using fresh organic ingredients for this recipe (e.g. butter instead of margarine and fresh milk instead of milk powder). This way your choux pastry will turn out crisp and simply delicious.
How to Make Craquelin:
- Mix the butter and brown sugar in a bowl.
- Add flour and mix until homogeneous.
- Roll out the dough between two silicon mats (around 3 mm thickness).
- Keep in the fridge until hard.
- Cut the craquelin into 2 cm circles.
How to Make the Choux Pastry:
- In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, milk, and salt.
- Heat until the butter melts completely.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the flour.
- Stir vigorously until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and begins to form a stiff ball. When some of the dough sticks to the bottom of the pan, remove from the heat. Let it cool.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well to incorporate completely after each addition.
- Put the choux pastry in a piping bag and start piping.
How to Make the Pastry Cream:
- Heat the milk and vanilla extract in a saucepan.
- Beat the egg yolks with the sugar in medium-sized bowl.
- Add the flour and cornstarch and mix again.
- When the milk is boiling, pour it onto the eggs and sugar and whisk.
- Put the preparation back in the saucepan.
- Cook over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
- Add the butter and whisk until a homogeneous blend is obtained.
- Pour the pastry cream into a pan and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a “skin” from forming.
How to Make the Choux au Craquelin:
- Using a piping bag with a round tip, pipe the choux pastry into 2.5 cm circle. Put one craquelin circle on top of each choux.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 170°C. Do not open the oven for 15 minutes.
- Then, open the oven door to get rid of the steam and bake for 8-10 minutes more until the choux are brown.
- Pipe the cold vanilla pastry cream inside the choux.
- Sprinkle icing sugar on top.
