Chocolate Cream Puffs

Ingredients

• 30 g dutch cocoa powder (about 3 tbsp)
• 140 g all purpose flour
• 236 g water (1 cup)
• 115 g unsalted butter (1 stick (cut into cubes))
• 50 g white sugar (about 3 tbsp)
• ½ tsp sea salt (less if using table salt)
• 4 large eggs (you may not use all of the eggs)
• 120 mL heavy whipping cream (½ cup (to bloom the cocoa powder))
• 50 g cocoa powder (5 tbsp, packed (you can use dutched or natural cocoa powder - but measure by weight))
• 480 mL heavy whipping cream (2 cups (chilled))
• 100 g caster sugar (scant ½ cup (add more for a sweeter whipped cream))
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (or coffee extract)
• ⅛ tsp sea salt (increase to ¼ tsp if you want to add a salty-sweet flavor)

Steps

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 400°F / 204°C.

2. 2

   Measure out all the ingredients.

3. 3

   Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and set it aside in a small bowl.

4. 4

   Place the salt, water, sugar, and butter in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat, while stirring occasionally. Make sure the butter, salt, and sugar melt before the water comes to a boil.

5. 5

   When the water comes to a boil, remove the pot from the heat and immediately add the cocoa powder and flour mix, in one go. Vigorously mix in the flour mixture so that it absorbs all of the water (use a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to do this). When the flour has absorbed the water and it's forming a dough, return the pan to the stove (medium heat).

6. 6

   Cook the dough for about 1 minute (over medium heat) while mixing and moving it around in the pan, until you get a dough that pulls away from the sides of the pan and resembles dry mashed potato. You should also notice a dough film formed at the bottom of the pan. The cook time will vary depending on your stove and pot size.

7. 7

   Transfer the dough into a bowl and let it cool down to about 170°F / 77°C. You can also mix the dough gently on low speed to help it cool down faster.

8. 8

   Lightly whisk one egg in a small bowl and add it to the dough. Mix it well into the dough until thoroughly mixed in. Then add the second and third egg, mixing in the second well before adding the third.

9. 9

   Now whisk the final egg, and add it in increments, until you get the right consistency. This is a crucial step, so take care not to add too much egg as this will result in flat or deflated puffs.

10. 10

    The correct dough consistency is when the dough has a sheen to it, and has pipeable consistency, and the dough will form a “V” shape at the end of your spatula when lifted from the bowl (see pictures in the post for reference). You may or may not use up all of the four eggs. This is why the fourth egg is added in increments.

11. 11

    Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper.

12. 12

    Pipe the desired shape onto the baking sheet – either using a piping bag fitted with a large tip (I use Wilton 1A, or you can cut the pastry bag opening instead). Then with a damp finger, flatten the apex and any sharp points on the dough mounds. Make sure to leave at least 1 - 1.5 inches between the piped mounds.

13. 13

    Bake in the oven preheated at 400°F / 204°C, for about 10 minutes.

14. 14

    Reduce the heat to 375°F / 190°C, and let the choux pastry cook for a further 15 - 20 minutes. Do NOT open the oven door during this step.

15. 15

    After 25 minutes of total bake time, the choux pastry shells should have puffed up. Quickly open the oven door and rotate the baking sheet. If you piped very large choux pastry mounds, then let them cook a little bit longer before opening the oven door.

16. 16

    Cook the choux puffs for another 5 minutes. At this stage, the choux pastries should have a hardened top. Quickly prick each of the cases with a toothpick.

17. 17

    Bake the choux pastry for another 3 - 5 minutes, to allow the pastries to dry out a little.

18. 18

    Remove from the oven, and prick the pastries one more time. Let the choux pastry cases cool completely in a draft-free area, preferably somewhere that is not cold.

19. 19

    Preheat the oven to 400°F / 204°C again for the next batch. Once preheated, pipe and bake the second tray of choux pastry.

20. 20

    Once the choux pastry has cooled down to room temperature, they are ready to be filled. They are best served within 24 hours after baking, and the same day they are filled.

21. 21

    You can either cut the top of the pastry and fill the bottom half with whipped cream, OR make a hole at the bottom of the shell and fill with a pastry bag.

22. 22

    Sift the cocoa powder to make sure there are no lumps and set it aside.

23. 23

    In a pot, place the 120 mL heavy cream and heat over medium heat while stirring until it starts to simmer.

24. 24

    Remove the cream from the heat and add the cocoa powder and whisk it in until you have a thick, smooth cocoa paste.

25. 25

    Cover with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge (for about 1 hour) to cool down to at least room temperature (ideally a little cooler than room temperature).

26. 26

    To make sure the thick cocoa paste mixes with the heavy cream smoothly, add about ½ cup / roughly 120 mL of the remaining heavy cream into the cocoa paste and stir gently to mix smoothly. Make sure it's lump free.

27. 27

    Add more cream if needed, until the paste loosens up and isn’t too thick anymore.

28. 28

    Place the loosened cocoa paste in the bowl of your mixer, along with the remaining heavy cream. Lightly whisk to mix the cocoa paste and the cream.

29. 29

    Add the salt and vanilla, and start whisking at medium speed. Stream in the sugar.

30. 30

    Whisk at medium high speed (or high speed if you prefer) until the whipped cream reaches mid peaks.

31. 31

    At this stage, taste the whipped cream and add more sugar IF you want a sweeter whipped cream.

32. 32

    When the chocolate whipped cream reaches mid peaks, either whisk the cream at low speed, OR whisk by hand. I like to use the whisk attachment and manually stir the whipped cream by hand.

33. 33

    Whisk on low or manually stir until the whipped cream reaches stiff peaks. The slow speed will prevent the whipped cream from overwhipping.

34. 34

    When the chocolate whipped cream reaches stiff peaks, stop whisking immediately. Gently fold the cream to ensure everything is whisked evenly.

35. 35

    Use immediately.

36. 36

    Cut the top 1/3 of each of the choux pastry cases using a small, sharp knife.

37. 37

    The inside of the choux pastries may contain soft webbings. Use a small spoon or your fingers to remove the webbings from inside the casings to make room for the filling. You can also simply push the webbings to bottom or the side of the pastry.

38. 38

    Place the chocolate whipped cream in a pastry bag, fitted with an open star piping tip or French star piping tip with about a ½ inch opening.

39. 39

    Pipe in the chocolate chantilly to fill the choux pastry. You can pipe however you like. I piped a swirl that overfilled the pastry here. Then replace the top of the pastry case that you cut earlier over the filling, so that the decorative swirl is partially visible.

40. 40

    Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve.