Ginger Peach Profiteroles

Choux treasure chests filled with luscious peach pastry cream. # 268: Ginger Peach Profiteroles

I think I may have finally cracked the code on choux pastry and craquelin! Bold statement, I know. These were perfectly crispy and held their shape after they cooled like the choux of my dreams.

If you’ve been here awhile, you know that I love all things pastry cream, especially in eclairs or profiteroles. My only problem has been that the ever-important choux pastry shells rarely want to cooperate, especially when I add a layer of craquelin on top. The crispy, sugary cookie that molds to the top of the pastry is both a joy to eat and a solid reminder of gravity.

I made some late-night cream puffs in 2020 with craquelin hats, but they had a bit too much egg and I took them out of the oven too early, so they deflated like a bunch of leaky balloons. Since it was the middle of the night and I refused to be discouraged in the face of delicious pastry cream, I decorated them with slivered almonds and chocolate to look like animals. Silly ideas to the rescue!

It’s so fun to look back and see how far I’ve come with simple basics, like pastry cream and choux pastry. Practice definitely doesn’t make perfect, but it does make confident!

I used the choux proportions from Serious Eats and I think the recipe is a keeper:

1 cup (235g) milk (can substitute half quantity for water – the milk solids can make it brown faster but I think it’s worth it for the flavor!)
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons (8g) sugar
1/4 teaspoon (2g) table salt (1/2 tsp if using kosher salt)
1 cup (128g) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs (200g)

Moody stovetop lighting. *Anddd action!*

English needs a word for the joy of watching batter go from gloopy clumps to smooth dough. Doughjoy? Let’s work on that.

Piping bag behind the scenes. I forgot to put a metal tip in before filling it – merde.

Speaking of merde, raw choux buns either look like cute comic strip poops or beehives. I’m on the fence about it.

Craquelin time!

It may be French for cracker, but these lil guys are most definitely cookies. It has equal amounts of sugar, butter and flour, and I threw in a little ginger. Ooo wouldn’t it be good with savories, like chili powder to top little buns filled with chicken salad? Coming to a high tea near you.

So much potential.

Heat wave + buttery dough = nope. I added some freezer time and a fish spatula into the mix and there was a definite improvement.

Melty lil mushrooms. Have you ever had those chocoroom cookies from Costco? They’re like pocky sticks but with a better proportion of chocolate to cookie. I may be lightly obsessed.

While those hang out in the oven, I’m dreaming of ginger pastry cream and fresh peaches.

Thicc.

They worked!! I made some with craquelin and some without, because a half recipe of choux buns makes way more than you’d think. It made for a cool contrast picture though, so no complaints!

The stage is set.

The more peach chunks, the merrier!

A box without hinges, a key or a lid, but golden treasure inside is hid. What am I?

Gollum would say eggs, but I say cream puffs!

Thanks to the luscious peaches, I had to spoon the filling into their choux shells instead of piping. (Does anyone else hear the words in their head while they read? Don’t know if it’s just me, but saying choux shells is my new favorite thing.)