Homemade Cream Puffs or Eclairs

For the choux pastry

1 cup water

½ cup butter

¼ teaspoon salt

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

4 large eggs (size is important in this recipe)

For the filling - (stabilized) whipped cream

½ teaspoon gelatin (for stabilized cream)

1½ tablespoons water (for stabilized cream)

2 cups cold heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

Combine the water, butter, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan, heat until the butter has melted, and bring to a rolling boil.

Remove pan from heat, and add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously until it is all absorbed.

Return the pan to the burner and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and follow the spoon around the pan; this should take about a minute.

Remove the pan from the heat, and let the mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes. It'll still feel hot, but you should be able to hold a finger in it for a few seconds.

Transfer the mixture to a mixer, and beat in the eggs one at a time; beating each time until fully incorporated before adding the next. After adding the final egg, allow mixer to run at least a minute or two.

Getting the dough onto the parchment: Here you have a choice, you can fill a pastry bag fitted with a large tip with the dough and pipe them into 12 mounds on the cookie sheet, divide the mixture using a cookie/muffin scoop, or simply use spoons. The key is to have all dough mounds the same size, so they bake evenly. Space the mounds about 3 inches apart, to allow for expansion. It is best for the portions to be smooth and not have spiky edges; smooth with your fingers that have been dipped in cold water before baking.

Bake the pastries for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 25 minutes, until pastries are a medium golden brown. Don't open the oven door while the puffs are baking.

Remove the puffs from the oven and immediately make a small slit in the top of each, and return them to the oven for 5 minutes; this will allow the steam to escape. Place them on a rack to cool.

The filling: (If you will be eating all of your cream puffs right away skip the gelatin and water, but if you would like the cream to not separate after a few hours, use the stabilized method.)

Stabilized: Place gelatin in small microwaveable bowl, add water and stir. Allow to sit 5 minutes and then place in microwave 5 seconds, stir, and repeat until liquefied. (This only took me a total of 5 to 10 seconds.)

Pour cold cream and vanilla into mixing bowl, and whip on high speed (using your mixer's whisk attachment, if you have one). Sprinkle in the sugar gradually as the cream whips. Once the whisk starts to leave "tracks" in the cream, drizzle in the gelatin mixture, and continue to whip until stiff, but be careful not to over-whip.

Once puffs are cooled completely, slice them in half, separating the tops from bottoms, and generously fill bottoms with cream. If you're feeling creative, fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe pretty pillows of cream into puffs, or feel free to use a large spoon or rubber scraper. Place tops onto cream layer and dust tops with powdered sugar. Serve.

Eclairs: Place dough onto parchment lined pans in log shapes, each about 5 inches long and approximately ½ to ¾ inch in diameter. This can be done easily by using the piping method referenced above, or shaped using spoons.

Eclair filling: Prepare your favorite pastry cream filling; or prepare a large package of vanilla pudding mix with heavy cream for extra richness, using about 25 percent less liquid than indicated on package directions. You'll need about 3 cups of filling. Slice cooled puffs in half and fill, replacing top.

Chocolate icing: 1 cup chocolate chips and ½ cup heavy cream. (Pour hot cream over chocolate in bowl and stir until melted.) When cool, drizzle or spread chocolate onto tops of eclairs.

Both cream puffs and eclairs are best if eaten the day they are made, as the pastry can tend to get soggy after being in contact with the filling.

Makes 12 cream puffs or 24 eclairs

Penny Kazmier