Strawberry Cream Puffs (Choux Craquelin)

5 from 1 vote

These Strawberry Cream Puffs made with crunchy choux au craquelin pastry, filled with pastry cream (cream Patisserie) and strawberry compote.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 40

Total Time 2 40

Servings puffs

Author Marina of www.everythingmarina.com

Place all ingredients in a bowl of stand mixer with pedal attachment. Beat a medium speed until all combined.
Roll out dough to 1-2 mm in thickness between two pieces of parchment paper. Place dough on baking sheet and put in the freezer for an hour, or until ready to use.

In the saucepan add milk and vanilla bean paste. If you are using real vanilla string, then cut and scrape seeds into milk. Cook the milk over medium heat only just comes to boil.
While the milk is heating, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl untill pale. Add the cornstarch to the egg mixture and whisk well untill combine.
Pour the hot milk in a slow and thin stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, with constant whisking, untill thickened and it comes to boil. This will take 1-2 minutes. When the mixture comes to boil, cook for about 1 minute more. This helps the cornstarch to achieve its full thickening power.
Remove the pastry cream from the heat and add the butter. Stir untill the butter has melted and fully incorporated into the cream. Transfer the cream into heat-proof bowl and cover with plastic wrap "to contact". Allow cream to cool completely to room temperature. Refrigerate the pastry cream untill needed.

Rinse the strawberries and clean them with the paper towel. Remove the leaves and stems and then cut the strawberries in half or quarters for the compote.
In the saucepan add strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook strawberries over medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes. Stir strawberries as they cook and break them down with spatula if you want less large pieces.
Dissolve the cornstarch and water in the small bowl or cup and pour it into the saucepan and stir to combine. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring freqently. Remove from the heat, allow to cool and transfer into glass jar or container. Compote will continue to thicken as it cools, and will thicken even more in the fridge.

In the saucepan place butter, water, milk, sugar and salt. Over medium heat bring mixture to boil. Remove from heat and add the sifted flour. Mix well with rubber spatula until it forms one smooth ball and no flour bits are visible. It should look like mashed potatoes.
Place the saucepan back on the stove and cook the dough for about 2-3 minutes over medium heat mixing constantly. It is ready when a skin forms on the bottom of the saucepan.
Remove the dough from the heat and place in the bowl of a stand mixer and let it cool slightly before mixing the eggs in.
Whisk eggs in the small bowl before adding to the dough. Add a small amount of egg at a time, consistently whisking after each addition. The consistency of the dough should be not too runny and not too firm, just right to pipe.
Preheat oven to 350^oF.
Place the dough into pipping bag with round tip. Pipe equal sized choux puffs on the baking mat. Make sure to leave enough space between puffs. Dust with powdered sugar.
Take the craquelin sheet out from the freezer. Using round cookie cutter, cut out circles, slightly larger in diameter than the choux puffs you just pipped. Add craquelin circles on top of each choux puffs.
Bake choux puff in the oven for 40-50 minutes, do not open the door of the oven in first 30 minutes or until the choux are fully puffed. The puff should be golden in color and when you cut not wet in the middle.
Transfer choux puffs on the wire rack to cool completely.

Slice the top off of cream buns. Pipe the pastry cream (cream Patisserie) into the cram buns until 3/4 fill. Then pipe strawberry compote right in the center of cream bun. Cover with sliced top and decorate with pastry cream and fresh strawberries.