Ingredients
- 125g Water
- 60g Unsalted butter
- 15g Caster sugar
- 75g Plain flour
- 2 Eggs (room temperature)
- 30g Unsalted butter
- 30g Brown sugar
- 30g Plain flour
- 300g Thicken cream
- 30g Icing sugar
- 5g Vanilla bean
- Seasonal fruits (Strawberries, Cherries, Kiwi, Peaches, Nectarines)
Serves: 30 bite-sized
Method
To Prepare the Craquelin Topping
- Place the very soft butter in a small bowl and mix it with a stiff spatula to make sure there
- are no large lumps. Add the Brown Sugar and cream it with the butter until smooth. Mix in the flour until you get a smooth paste.
- Place the craquelin dough between two sheets of baking paper. Gently flatten it with your hands, then use a Rolling Pin to roll it into a thin layer (about 2mm/0.08 inch thick). Place in the freezer over a flat tray to chill for at least 1 hour (or 2 hours in the fridge).
- Preheat your oven to 175 degrees. Place the Water, Butter and Sugar in a small pot and leave on medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Away from the heat, drop in the Flour at once, then mix it in using a stiff spatula until a rough dough comes together.
- Place the pot back on low heat and stir the dough for 2-3 minutes to dehydrate it and remove moisture. Transfer the dough to the bowl of your mixer and set aside to cool down for at least 15 minutes or until it returns to room temperature. Whisk the Eggs in a separate bowl. Add them to the dough a bit at a time, mixing well between each addition. The dough should be smooth before you add more eggs. When almost all of the eggs have been added, stop to check the consistency of the dough before adding more.
- Transfer the Choux Pastry into a Piping Bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Pipe small balls of pastry over a greased flat baking tray, leaving room between each choux as they will puff.
- Take the Craquelin out of the freezer and remove the top layer of baking paper. With a round cookie cutter, about the size of the piped choux, cut out small disks of dough
- Using a small offset spatula, lift up the craquelin disks and place them over each Choux bun. Bake for 20 minutes, then open the door for a few seconds to let the steam out. Close the door again and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until puffed, golden and dry to the touch.
- Place over a cooling rack to cool down completely before filling with your choice of cream.
- When ready to serve, take thickened cream, icing sugar, and vanilla bean paste out of the fridge and whisk for 3-4 minutes at high speed with an electric mixer until it’s smooth and well combined.
- Transfer your choux puffs to a serving dish, pipe the Chantilly cream in the middle and cover with fresh fruits/berries. Serve as soon as possible.
This recipe was featured in Winning Appliances and WA Good Food Guide-led 'Master of Desserts' activation with Amanda Yong.
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