Strawberry Cream Puffs (Choux Craquelin)

5 from 1 vote

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

Prep Time2

Cook Time40

Total Time2 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings: puffs

Calories: 220kcal

Place all ingredients in a bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat a medium speed until all are combined.
Roll out the dough to 1-2 mm in thickness between two pieces of parchment paper. Place the dough on a 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 until it only just comes to a boil.
While the milk is heating, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl until pale. Add the cornstarch to the egg mixture and whisk well until combined.
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, until thickened, and it comes to a boil. This will take 1-2 minutes. When the mixture comes to a 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 until the butter has melted and fully incorporated into the cream. Transfer the cream to a heat-proof bowl and cover it with plastic wrap "to contact." Allow the cream to cool completely to room temperature. Refrigerate the pastry cream until needed.

Rinse the strawberries and clean them with a 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 a spatula if you want smaller pieces.
Dissolve the cornstarch and water in a small bowl or cup, pour it into the saucepan, and stir to combine. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, and transfer into a 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 the mixture to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour. Mix well with a 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, place it 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 be too runny and not too firm, just right to pipe.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place the dough into a piping bag with a 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 of the freezer. Using a 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 puff.
Bake choux puff in the oven for 40-50 minutes; do not open the door of the oven in the 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 to the wire rack to cool completely.

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

Make the cream ahead of time so it has time to chill down.

Decorate the top of the puffs with the fresh strawberries right before serving.