Strawberry Shortcake Cream Puffs
 
 
Strawberry shortcake cream puffs filled with a rich French pastry cream and juicy strawberry slices.
Yield: 16 cream puffs
Ingredients
For the pate a choux
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup + 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs
For the Tropez cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 tbsp cake flour
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup heavy cream
For the cream puffs
  • 1 lb strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. To make the pate a choux, in a medium saucepan, heat the butter, sugar, salt, and water over medium heat just until the butter melts, not letting the mixture come to a boil. Pour in the flour all at once and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until it starts to get stiff and leaves a film on the bottom of the pan, about 3-4 minutes.
  3. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed for 1 minute, releasing some of the heat and steam. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat to break up the yolks. With the mixer still running, slowly add in the eggs. When all of them have been added, increase the speed to medium and beat for 20 seconds, or until glossy and shiny.
  4. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1-inch round tip. Pipe out balls about 1½ inches in diameter onto the prepared baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 325F and continue to bake for another 30 minutes or until entirely brown. Let cool completely.
  5. To make the Tropez cream, put the milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Scald the milk.
  6. While the milk is heating, stir together the sugar, cake flour, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and egg yolk until well combined. Add the flour mixture to the eggs and whisk until combined, thick, and pasty.
  7. Remove the milk from the heat and slowly add it to the egg-flour mixture, whisking constantly. Return to the pan over medium heat and whisk continuously and vigorously until thickened, about 4-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it against the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours.
  8. Before you are ready to fill the cream puffs, whip the heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled custard until well combined.
  9. Split the cream puffs in half and fill the bottom halves with the pastry cream. Top with the strawberries and the top half of the puffs.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 cream puff
Recipe by Joanne Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2015/05/strawberry-shortcake-cream-puffs.html