Cream Puffs with Vanilla Pastry Cream

Preheat oven to 425F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.

Put water, butter and oil in a pot over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and stir vigorously. Cook and stir until the mixture forms a ball that doesn’t separate, about 20 seconds.

Remove from the heat and cool for about 5-10 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one and until the dough is smooth.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough about 2-inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Or transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a round tip and pipe circles about 2-inches in diameter and about 1-inch apart onto baking sheets. Round off the tops with your finger, so the top is not ‘pointy’ otherwise the point will get overly brown.

Bake puffs for about 11-12 minutes at 425 F for medium sized ones (for small ones 10-11 minutes at 425F). Then reduce the temperature to 375 F and bake for an additional 6-8 minutes until they are golden brown and puffy.Turn off the oven and open the door a crack and leave cream puffs inside to cool for 20-30 minutes. Remove the cream puffs from the oven.

Allow cream puffs to cool completely before cutting them in half, and filling with desired cream.

You can fill them with simple whipped cream and strawberries, or make my Vanilla Pastry Cream filling.

For Vanilla Pastry Cream:

Beat the first four pastry cream ingredients in a bowl/stand mixer on high speed until thick and pale yellow, about 2 minutes.

In a medium sized saucepan on medium heat bring the milk and vanilla bean to a simmer. Then remove from heat and remove vanilla bean.

Gradually pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking to combine. Then scrape the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk and cook over low to medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping bottom and corners of pan to prevent scorching, until the custard is thickened and bubbling slightly. Continue to cook, whisking for about another minute.

Using a clean spatula, scrape custard into a bowl. Cover the surface of the custard with wax paper or parchment, or plastic wrap, in order to prevent a skin from forming. Let the custard cool, then refrigerate for up to two days.

When you are ready to serve, spread or pipe the filling onto the bottom half of the cream puff, then top with the top half of the cream puff. Once filled, keep refrigerated until ready to serve.