Simple Choux au Craquelin with Vanilla Pastry Cream

Soo today we are going to make something a little bit more technical than your usual brownie. These amazing choux au craquelin and to make it even more interesting we are also going to make our own vanilla pastry cream. If you want to go for the easy way out and fill these fluffs with freshly whipped cream, be my guest. BUT it is really worth it to make the pastry cream from scratch. That just gets these buns to the next level of indulgence.

I used to be quite intimidated by this recipe because I assumed it would be very difficult to make and a lot of work, but how wrong was I. I heard this French friend saying he made these with so low effort, and I was like okay I have to make these now. It wasn’t that low effort tho, especially when you make the pastry cream yourself, but I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to make the choux pastry and the craquelin crust by themselves. I was maybe done with this in 20 minutes.

And it is also just so worth it! They are so nice with the crunchy texture of the craquelin crust on top of the choux, it’s just a dream… And I was also so happy to see that one of my favorite chefs had a recipe for this I had to try it out! Thank you Chef John!

But hey let’s stop talking and let’s make these fluffy and crispy buns filled with goodness.

Ingredients

So this actually exists of 3 different recipes, for the craquelin crust you will need:

• 3 tbsp butter
• 50 g | 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 6 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the choux pastry:

• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp butter

For the vanilla pastry cream:

• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 500 ml | 2 cups milk, I also tried this with oat milk and this turned out great
• 100 g | 1/2 cup sugar
• 30 g | 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or use 1 vanilla bean if you want to go for that extra
• 1/2 tsp salt

or just skip the vanilla pastry cream and fill your puffs with some freshly whipped cream! But they won’t be as good as some fluffy puffs filled with homemade delicious pastry cream…

Method

It is the best to make the pastry cream beforehand so it can cool completely:

• Mix your eggs in a bowl with the sugar, corn starch and salt. Mix until you get a pale golden color.
• Place the milk into a saucepan with the vanilla over medium-high heat and wait until it almost gets to a simmer and you have a few small bubbles. Remove from heat and slowly whisk the warm milk into your egg mixture.
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan over low-medium heat and continue to whisk until it thickens up. This will maybe take 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool down for 5 minutes and then stir in the butter. Strain your mixture and transfer it to a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it cool down in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.

let’s start with preparing your craquelin crust:

• mix all of your craquelin crust ingredients in a bowl and mix it together with a spatula to a soft mixture. Place the dough between two sheets of baking paper or inside a zip lock bag and roll the dough to a square which has a 6 mm or 1/4 inch thickness. Pop the crust into the freezer so it can harden while you make the choux pastry.

let’s get into the choux pastry:

• Preheat your oven to 230°C or 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or baking paper.
• Combine the water, butter and salt into a small saucepan. Bring this mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Dump in your flour and quickly stir with a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula until it comes together to a smooth dough and comes off cleanly from the bottom of the pan. Transfer to a bowl and let cool down for 10 minutes.
• Whisk your eggs into the dough one at a time and transfer it to a pastry piping bag. Pipe 6 to 8 buns onto your prepared baking sheet. If they have a weird shape you can smooth out the tops with a wet finger.
• Get your craquelin crust pastry out and cut circles out the same diameter as the piped buns (for me this was 4-5 cm) and press gem gently on top of the piped bun pastry. Don’t press too hard otherwise they turn out flat!
• Place the buns into the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 175°C or 350ºF. Bake 30 to 40 minutes until golden. Transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool down in the oven, turned off with the door partially open.

For the assembly:

• When everything has cooled down transfer your pastry cream to a piping bag, cut out small holes in your choux pastry and fill the buns. You can do this on the bottom of the buns or I like to follow my craquelin crust and just stuck the cut out piece back when you filled them.

If you made this and enjoyed it as much as I did, let me know and tag me on instagram @doughtodelight ! Also try out this recipe for vegan carob cookies or this simple and amazing focaccia!