Photo: Natalie Levin
As someone who’s favorite “fancy” dessert is cream puffs, I make cream puffs quite a lot. I like the combination of a crunchy golden choux pastry filled with lots of luscious cream, and the contrast between the soft and the crunchy.
These cream puffs have a crunchy pistachio crumble layer and are filled with raspberry mousse, topped with vanilla cream, fresh raspberries and chopped pistachio. They are festive, colorful and delicious, and would make a great dessert for Valentine’s day.
Photo: Natalie Levin
Pistachio and Raspberry Cream Puffs
For the pistachio crumble:
- 50 grams cold butter (cut into cubes)
- 50 grams light brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 70 grams ground pistachios
- 50 grams all-purpose flour
For the cream puffs:
- 230 ml. milk
- Pinch of salt
- 5 grams sugar
- 100 grams butter
- 150 grams flour
- 3-4 large eggs (beaten)
For raspberry Mousse (based on a recipe of Guillaume Mabilleau with my change):
- 5 grams gelatin powder
- 30 ml. water
- 140 grams raspberry puree
- 80 grams butter
- 225 grams white chocolate (chopped)
- 500 ml. heavy cream
For vanilla cream:
- 500 ml. cream
- 80 grams sugar
- 20 grams whipped cream stabilizer or instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Decoration:
- 100-150 grams fresh raspberries
- 50 grams roasted pistachios (very finely chopped)
- Sugar powder
- Pistachio crumble: in a food processor with a steel blade put butter, sugar, salt, pistachios and flour and blend together until you receive large chunks of dough.
- Flatten the dough between two baking paper and roll about 2-3 mm thick. Freeze for about 30 minutes to set.
- Cream puffs: preheat oven to 180c degrees.
- In a medium saucepan put milk, salt, sugar and butter and heat to a strong boil.
- Add flour and stir while cooking, until it turns into a lump of dough.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until it cools down a little.
- Add the eggs gradually while beating until dough is elastic and smooth. Check the readiness of dough by creating a “trail” with a wooden spoon in the center of the dough – if the track remains stable, add some eggs, and if it closes a bit – the dough is ready. It is important not to add too many eggs to the dough or it may become too soft and ruined.
- Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a round 2 cm piping tip. On a baking tray lined with baking paper pipe large cream puffs (about 5-6 cm in diameter). It’s important to leave some space between the cream puffs.
- Remove the crumble layer from the freezer and cut out about 6-7 cm circles. Place a round piece of crumble over each cream puff and flatten a bit.
- Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the cream puffs are golden and set. Cool completely before filling.
- Make a small hole at the bottom of each cream puff.
- Raspberry mousse: in a small bowl stir gelatin and water and set aside for 10 minutes to absorb liquids.
- In a medium pan put raspberry puree and butter and heat to a boil.
- Remove from heat and add in gelatin and chocolate. Beat until blended.
- Grind the mixture using a stick blender. Add in the cream and continue to grind until incorporated.
- Transfer the mousse mixture to a flat compartment, cover and refrigerate until the mixture is completely set and cold.
- Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a mixer with whipping hook and whip at high speed until stable mousse is formed.
- Transfer the mousse to a pastry bag fitted with 1/2 cm round piping tip, and fill the cream puffs. After filling, put a small raspberry in the bottom of each cream puff. Refrigerate.
-
Vanilla cream: in a bowl of a mixer with a whipping attachment put cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and stabilizer and whip on high speed, until you get a very stable cream.
- Transfer the cream to a pastry bag fitted with 2 cm round piping tip and pipe large mounds of vanilla cream on top of each cream puff.
- Decorate with fresh raspberries, chopped pistachios and powdered sugar and serve.
- The cream puffs are at their best on the day of preparation, but you can keep them in a closed container in the refrigerator up to 4-5 days.
- It’s important to add the raspberries and chopped pistachios just before serving.
- You can use any other nut you like instead of pistachios.
Photo: Natalie Levin