Green Tea Cream Puffs
I had the nice surprise to be selected for the ‘Site we Love’ feature of SAVEUR magazine this month. Amazing! You can read my interview here. Thank you all for all your good words. I was going to post a different recipe today but I figured we need to celebrate with something sweet that everybody loves.
Ah, the magic of cream puffs. My very first kitchen triumph when I was about 14 years old. That’s when I gave myself the challenge to make choux à la crème for a holiday dinner and everyone, including my parents, doubted it would work. I remember sitting in front of the oven, peeking through the oven window smiling from cheek to cheek as I saw the mounds of of pâte à choux rising tall. I held my breath and crossed my fingers that they wouldn’t fall flat. When the cooking time was up I opened the oven door and here they were, perfectly puffed and golden. I filled them with a crème chantilly and I was hooked for life.
I’ve been experimenting with different fillings for cream puffs and I’m quite happy with this one. I made a green tea pastry cream with whole eggs, instead of egg yolks, which makes it much lighter. Then I folded whipped cream into it and stabilized it with a small amount of gelatin, which keeps the cream from running away from you after the first bite. You could of course omit the green tea and split a vanilla bean into the milk to make a vanilla cream version. Everything else stays the same. The choux paste is a no-fail recipe I’ve been using for years. Both together. A hit.
Enjoy!
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Green Tea Cream Puffs
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- Serves 6
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Choux paste:
- 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 5 large eggs
- egg wash: 1 yolk mixed with 1 tbs milk or cream
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Green tea pastry cream:
- 1 ½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Matcha (green tea) powder
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
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Choux paste:
- In a medium saucepan, bring the butter, milk, water, salt, and sugar to a gentle boil. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour and baking powder all at once. Stir energetically with a wooden spoon and return to the heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until a dough forms and the excess moisture evaporates, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a Kitchenaid equipped with the paddle. Beat the mixture on medium for 15 seconds and start adding the eggs one by one. Mix until the dough (paste) is smooth and shiny.
- Spoon the batter into a pastry bag with a large round tip, pipe into mounds that are about 2 inches across onto a lightly greased baking sheet or a silpat. Leave about a 2-inch space between mounds. Brush the tops with egg wash and make them even with the back of a spoon or fork.
- Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, until puffed and golden-brown.
- To finish: Dig a hole at the bottom with a chopstick. Fill another pastry bag with a small round tip with the green tea cream and pipe the cream inside the puffs. Dust with powdered sugar.
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Green tea pastry cream:
- In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water to soften and set aside.
- Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan. Add the salt, place over medium-high heat, and bring to just under a boil. Whisk in the green tea powder.
- Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
- When the milk is just under a boil, add about 1/3 of the milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the hot milk and continue whisking over medium heat until the custard thickens and start bubbling, about 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and immediately pour through a sieve into the bowl. Add the gelatin mixture and whisk until incorporated. Let cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Cut the butter into chunks. Whisk the butter into the pastry cream 1 tablespoon at a time. Cool the green tea cream completely.
- Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. When the green tea cream is cold, gently fold the whipped cream into it until fully incorporated.
- Fill the puffs with the green tea cream (see above)
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January 29th, 2012 at 9:05 am
They love your site and so do I
So the feature is really well deserved.
Thanks for sharing this, I am going to bookmark the cream recipe. Curious about the lighter yet stabilised texture…
January 29th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
I want!!!! I am willing to come ALL the way to Bkln if needed
)))
January 29th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
loved reading the interview zenman. i remember the ‘incident’ on the rooftop, when you first told us, so funny. no crying in grilling. lol
congrats to you! good stuff!
January 30th, 2012 at 1:06 am
Phat! Your a star!
January 30th, 2012 at 1:33 am
14 years old huh? No wonder (lah!). If I ever make cream puffs, I’ll know where to look.
January 30th, 2012 at 2:22 am
Choux à la crème are some of my favourite desserts ever! That pastry cream is just so delicious! And that green is my favourite colour so there you go, two of my favourite things together at last!
And congrats again on the Saveur article!
January 30th, 2012 at 4:18 am
I love cream puffs, I believe they were also one of my earliest successes in the kitchen…if only I started earlier and not at 19 years old.
And that green tea pastry cream looks and sounds delicious. I got to give that a go, although I’ve never added gelatin into pastry cream before so I’m curious about the end result.
January 30th, 2012 at 7:09 am
never tried something like this before…never thought there could be anything else inside cream puffs but choco and custard. I thought wrong. thanks for sharing…
January 30th, 2012 at 7:50 pm
What an original puff recipe! They look fantastic!
January 31st, 2012 at 8:39 am
Hmmmmmmm, would like to try these!
Just a quick question: I usually get sheets of gelatin, which also vary in size between brands. For how much liquid is your amount of gelatin? My usual brand has 12 sheets for 1 liter.
Always tricky converting from american to metric measurements…..
February 1st, 2012 at 2:09 am
The possibilities are endless..
February 1st, 2012 at 2:09 am
Thank you!
February 1st, 2012 at 2:09 am
Hi, Thijs. If it’s “silver grade” gelatin I believe you need to use 2 sheets for this recipe.
February 1st, 2012 at 2:10 am
See! Especially designed for you.
Thank you!
February 1st, 2012 at 2:10 am
First time I did and it gave it a nice texture I think.
February 1st, 2012 at 2:11 am
No, YOU’re a star!
February 1st, 2012 at 2:11 am
I started early in the kitchen!
February 1st, 2012 at 2:12 am
Sorry. Not for sale. haha
February 1st, 2012 at 2:12 am
Oh c’mon. It’s okay to cry. haha
February 1st, 2012 at 2:13 am
Thank you, Shirley. You’re too kind!
February 1st, 2012 at 3:13 am
Yum! Look how scrumptious these guys look!
February 1st, 2012 at 4:40 pm
Man, I must be getting old! I could have sworn on commented on this, but obviously didn’t. Anyway, congrats on the Saveur interview – that’s really great. And I love the idea of green tea in these. In fact I’m back here because I wanted to look at the gorgeous pictures again!
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:49 am
Drool.. I really want one of these right now.. Which means I’ll have to make these soon. Congrats! And glad to be a new follower!
February 3rd, 2012 at 2:51 pm
As always, these cream puffs are stunning! The love the contrast between the puff and the green tea cream… I have featured your post in today’s Friday Food Fetish roundup. Let me know if you have any objections and thanks for the inspiration…
February 4th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
I don’t use tea often when cooking, but the bright green surprise in these puffs could change all that. Stunning!
February 4th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
Great! I made puffs only once. http://mowia-weki.blogspot.com/2012/01/prosze-panstwa-oto-ptys-z-bita-smietana.html#comment-form Yours are beautiful!
February 4th, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Congrats on the feature! I love the look of the green tea filling… it’s very surprising, and I’m sure it’s delicious!
February 5th, 2012 at 2:04 am
looks so yummy!
February 6th, 2012 at 3:13 am
I love how you bite into these and get that shock of green. Gorgeous. I’m swooning over these — big time!
February 13th, 2012 at 3:06 am
It doesnt surprise me at all that you were featured by savuer – you are one of the food blogs i have been reading for the longest.. Maybe nearly 3 years now and you are still an inspiration..
Also I have a choux paste recipe that I love but this look possibly even more fantastic so I may just put it to the test…
February 14th, 2012 at 6:09 am
making this now…when the mixture boiled, it looked like it curdled and became very thick…put it through a strainer but had to force it through…then added the gelatin..I’m worried there’s too much thickener in here…I will whip the cream and fold, but after it is done, will it stiffen up like a mousse or can I keep it chilled and use it the next day? Could I have omitted the gelatin?
February 14th, 2012 at 6:14 am
my custard is not smooth…and looking at the picture, did you add vanilla bean?
February 14th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
OMG I am so making these.
p.s. Congrats on the Saveur feature.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:26 pm
Finished making these and you were right, it was still soft after chilling it overnight. Folded in the cream and piped into puff. Delish!! I was surprised the gelatin didn’t cause the cream to get stiff overnight! Your recipes have not failed me yet
February 15th, 2012 at 3:30 am
Hi Sandie! Sorry I couldn’t reply earlier. I had a busy couple of days. I’m glad it worked in the end. The whipped cream loosen the pastry cream so that’s where the gelatin comes to the rescue to keep things under control. Thank you for reading!
February 15th, 2012 at 3:31 am
You’re too kind! Thank you very much!