Peach Cookie Cream Puffs / Choux au Craquelin | Recipe

The crispy cookie exterior coupled up with the flaky choux puff pastry and the creamy custard filling accomponied with sweet pieces of peach is too perfect! This dessert is not only stunning to look at but it tastes amazing too. These remind me of the cream puffs you would see in french patisseries/cake shops as they look so elegant and professional- making this recipe is a must!

Peach Cream Puffs | Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
Cookie Dough
35g of unsalted butter,
30g of sugar,
3 drops of gel red food coloring,
45g of all purpose flour

Choux pastry
33ml of milk,
33ml of water,
30g of unsalted butter,
40g of flour,
75g of egg

Custard Cream filling
1 egg yolk,
15g of sugar,
7g of cornstarch,
1/2 tsp of vanilla bean paste/extract (or you can use the seeds of one vanilla pod),
100ml of warm milk

150g of whipping cream,
10g of sugar

+2 small peaches
+mint leaves
+extra whipped cream

METHOD
Cookie dough
1. Ensure your butter is at room temperature and is really soft. Cream together with the sugar using a whisk until light and fluffy.
2. Whisk in the food coloring until the color is even/homogenous throughout.
3. Stir in the flour until a dough forms.
4. Scoop out tablespoon-sized portions/balls. Roll and flatten each ball into a thin disc. Place discs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, set aside and refrigerate.

Choux pastry
1. In a large saucepan, melt together the milk, water and butter on low to medium heat.
2. Once butter is melted, stir in the flour until a soft dough forms. A film should appear on the bottom of the pan. Switch off the heat and place the dough in a large bowl.
3. Let the dough completely cool before stirring in the beaten egg gradually. A soft yet thick and pipeable batter should be formed.
4. Place this batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
5. Pipe equal sized mounds onto a lined baking sheet.
6. Remove the cookie pieces from the fridge and place each disc on top of each mound of batter.
7. Place the cream puffs into the oven at 180c for 15 minutes and then at 160c for 10 minutes.
8. Once baked, let the cream puffs cool. Meanwhile, create the custard cream filling.

Custard cream filling
1. Whisk together the egg yolk, sugar, cornstarch and vanilla bean paste until pale and thick.
2. Gradually whisk in the warm milk. The milk can be heated up in the microwave but make sure it is WARM and not hot before adding to the egg yolks as this could cook/curdle them.
3. Pour this mixture into a saucepan and whisk constantly on low heat until it thickens ever so slightly. It is thick enough when you can see the bottom of the pan whilst whisking.
4. Remove from pan immediately and pour the custard into a bowl to allow it to cool completely. Cover the custard with a piece of plastic wrap and make sure it touches the custard itself to prevent a skin from forming.
5. Meanwhile, whip the cream and sugar until soft peaks form.
6. Once the custard is completely cool, whisk in about 1/4 of the cream to loosen up the custard before folding in the rest gently.

Assembly
1. Wash the peaches thoroughly and dice into small pieces (a little smaller than bite-sized).
2. Place the custard cream into a piping bag fitted with a circular tip.
3. Use a piping tip to create a hole at the bottom of the cream puffs gently.
4. Fill the cream puffs halfway full with the custard cream. Then, fill up gently with a few peach pieces before filling the rest of the cream puff up with more custard.
5. Decorate the tops of the cream puffs with a small piping of whipped cream, mint leaves and peach pieces. Dust generously with powdered sugar.
6. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours before serving in order to make sure that the cream is set/firm.