Profiteroles / Cream Puff Nangka

Star Q

i.  Jom Masuk U!

ii.  Of Paddy and Coconut Husks

This is another nostalgic trip down memory lane.  Once in a while you get the urge to make something you have made before just for the memory.  I know that making cream puff is such a daunting task (to me at least!) but, aside from the memory, I'm making it because there was a request from the missus.

I remember making these when I was in my second year in Leeds and was renting a house in Beeston.  It was my first time ever making these cream puffs, and the magazine I got the recipe from did not disclose all the secrets of making a bakery-worthy finish; but finish them I did and I didn't care if the puffs were slightly soft later because I did not make a hole after the puffs were cooked to release the water vapor that would later make them soft (this was the secret that was not disclosed!)

Anyway, I did manage to make quite a batch of the puffs and even managed to give some to a fellow student, Zakaria (or Zack as we all call him) and his family who lived a few doors from me.  The ones I made today are slightly smaller than the ones I made before.  For this recipe, I got 18 cream puffs, each piped to a diameter of 3 cm.

Choux Pastry :

• 100 ml water
• 45 g butter
• 60 g flour, sifter
• 2 large eggs

In a pot, bring the water and butter to a boil.  As soon as the mixture boils, remove from heat and quickly stir in the flour until it becomes a ball.  Return the pot to the stove, and on a low heat, continue stirring the dough until small flakes form.  Remove from heat again and quickly stir in the eggs until well incorporated.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200 C.  Pipe the pastry onto parchment-lined baking tins and mist them with some water.  Bake the puffs for 15 minutes then turn down the temperature to 180 C and continue to bake for another 25 minutes.  Once golden brown and cooked, take them out of the oven and make small holes (I used a wooden skewer) on the sides of the puffs to release the water vapor trapped inside.  Return them to the oven to dry.  Leave to cool.

Pastry Cream :

(an adaptation of Anna Olson's recipe)

• 1 cup milk
• 2 pieces jackfruit
• 1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbs caster sugar
• 2 tbs custard powder
• 1 tbs butter

First blend the jackfruit with the milk and sieve the mixture to get rid of any jackfruit fibres.  Put the custard powder and sugar in a pot and mix with 2 tbs of the jackfruit/milk until there are no lumps.  Then, stir in the eggs, followed by the rest of the milk.  On a low flame, continuously stir the mixture, until bubbles start to appear and custard has thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter until well incorporated.  Transfer the custard into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool ( I had some leftover to eat in a quite corner!)

To assemble, instead of splitting the puffs to put in the cream like I did last time, I used the holes that I had made by piercing the puffs with a small wooden skewer, to pipe in the custard.  I am happy with this batch, mainly because there was no messy custard oozing out from the puffs.