Brimstone Cream Puffs
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer
Ingredients
Craquelin
- 110 g bread flour
- 110 g brown sugar
- 1 g salt
- 90 g butter cold, cubed
- ½ tsp black food coloring
Pate a Choux
- 80 g milk
- 80 g water
- 3 g salt kosher
- 6 g sugar
- 80 g butter cubed
- 95 g bread flour
- 140 g eggs lightly mixed
- 1 tsp red food coloring plus one drop of black food coloring
Pumpkin Pastry Cream
- 235 g pumpkin puree
- 50 g brown sugar
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 6 each egg yolks
- 198 g sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 28 g cornstarch
- 250 g whole milk
- 132 g heavy cream
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tbsp butter
- 66 g heavy cream cold
Instructions
Craquelin
- Beat the butter, sugar, salt, and black food coloring until smooth.
- Add the bread flour till combined and while the dough is soft, roll it out between 2 sheets of parchment paper, about 1/8 inch thick. Freeze.
- With a ring cutter, cut a round the same size as the choux, 4-5 cm.
Pate a Choux
- Boil the water, milk, salt, sugar, and butter in a heavy pot.
- Take the pot off the heat and add in all the bread flour. Place the pot back on medium heat and stir till all the batter releases from the side and the bottom of the pot, about 1-2 minutes.
- Place the dough in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and start mixing. 110° F Add one egg at a time and slowly incorporate the eggs into the batter well. You are looking for it to be shiny, smooth, and when you run your finger through the batter, it holds its shape, but falling in on itself just a little.
- Pour the dough into a pastry bag fitted with an ½ inch-round tip—pipe 6cm mounds. Place the frozen craquelin on top of the choux batter.
- Bake at 360℉ for about 18-22 minutes. Once fully baked, the puffs won't spring back at all. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before filling.
Pumpkin Pastry Cream
- Combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a small pot and heat over medium heat until it boils. Stir the mixture constantly. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes while continuing to stir. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a medium pot over medium heat, combine the milk, heavy cream, and 98 grams of sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch together in a medium bowl until light.
- Once the milk has reached a simmer, pour a small amount of it into the bowl of egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Whisk together while continuing to pour a steady stream of warm milk. Pour the yolk mixture back into the pot and heat over medium heat. Add the spiced pumpkin puree.
- Bring the pastry cream to a boil while whisking continuously. Boil for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the pumpkin pastry cream through a mesh strainer into a bowl with the butter and vanilla bean paste. Stir the pastry cream until the butter is melted and fully combined.
- Apply plastic wrap to the top of the pastry cream to prevent a crust from forming and chill until ready to use.
- Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks and fold into the cold pastry cream.
Assembly
- Pour the pumpkin pastry cream into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Gently poke a hole into the bottom of the puffs and fill with cream.