{charmed earth}

The Lifestyle blog of Katie Storms.: something simple, something sweet, something styled.

27 April 2012

{something julia child} pate a choux or creme puffs

The other morning I wanted to eat creme puffs. And since I was officially on maternity leave, I could visit the grocery store at eight in the morning on a Thursday to pick up butter and eggs.

It took me a moment to find Julia's recipe in my copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but I found it on page 175. I ended up altering her seasonings a bit, and it wasn't the perfect first try. But I satisfied my craving with two, and Johnny ate the rest.

Ingredients:
1 cup of water
6 Tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar *my addition (Julia uses 1/8 tsp black pepper)
pinch of cinnamon* my addition (Julia uses nutmeg, which I don't always like)
3/4 cup of flour, spooned and leveled
4 large eggs
1 egg for an egg wash
vanilla pudding for the filling
Step-by-Step: 
    from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Step One: Pre-heat your oven to 425-degrees. Bring your water to a boil with the butter, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Boil slowly until the butter melts.
Step Two: Measure your flour. Remove the butter mixture from the heat, and pour in all of the flour at once. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon to blend well. Then beat over a moderately high heat for a minute or two until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and the spoon, forms a mass, and begins to film at the bottom of the pan.
Step Three: Remove your pan from the heat and make a well in the center of the paste with your spoon. Break an egg into the well and beat it quickly until it is absorbed. Repeat this step, making sure to fully incorporate the egg after each round.
Step Four: Spoon your batter into small balls using two spoons onto a parchment lined baking pan. Leave one to two inches between each ball of batter.
Step Five: Brush each puff with an egg wash using a pastry brush, then flatten the top slightly. Avoid letting the egg drip down the sides of the puff. Julia says this will prevent the batter from rising.
Step Six: Bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven for 20-minutes. The puffs are done when then have doubled in size. Remove the puffs from the oven, and pierce each one with a sharp knife. Then set in the turned-off oven and leave the door ajar for 10 minutes. Cool the puffs on a rack.
Step Seven: After the puffs are cooled, cut each one in half with a knife. Then fill with your favorite filling. I used a simple vanilla pudding.

Enjoy! xo, katie & julia

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