Ready to do some Easter baking? Chef Christian Lai-Chun's Mini-Egg Cream Puffs is an egg-cellent way to celebrate this Easter weekend! Crisp choux pastry filled with divine vanilla pastry cream, topped with a Chantilly nest of Mini-Eggs. It's chocolaty, crunchy, silky and super adorable!
Thanks to Amy Lovett, Advanced Baking & Pastry Arts Student for preparing this dessert and photography.
Choux
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup pastry flour
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 water
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
- In medium sized pot, bring milk, water, sugar and butter to a simmer
- Add flour, mix with wooden spoon until well combined.
- Cool down dough
- Gradually add eggs and mix well
- Dough consistency should be sticky and form a “V” shape when falling off the spatula.
- Place into piping bag
- Pipe choux onto baking tray lined with parchment paper
- 2 inches apart
- If choux has tip, lightly press down with wet finger tip
- Bake at 350 for 30 mins
- Do not open oven in the first 15 mins
- Once out of oven, poke holes in bottom to help excess steam/moisture escape and prevent collapsing
- Let them fully cool.
Vanilla Pastry Cream
1 1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons cornstarch
- In bowl, combine yolks, sugar and corn starch whisk until pale yellow.
- Bring milk to a boil
- Add 1/4 of milk to egg mixture, mix to combine
- Pour back into pot, over medium heat bring to a boil continuously whisking until becomes thick and no longer sticks to side of pot
- Finish pastry cream off with butter, pour onto tray lined with plastic wrap
- Wrap pastry cream and set in fridge to chill
- Once fully chilled and set. Place in bowl and whisk until smooth
Chantilly
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
1tbsp vanilla
- Whip heavy cream, vanilla and icing sugar until stiff peak forms
Assembly
Fill choux with pastry cream from the bottom
Pipe nest with Chantilly around the top of the choux
Add 3 mini eggs to complete the nest
