After being woken up by my upstairs neighbor this morning around 8 (she seems to think that continually moving furniture around by sliding across the hardwood floor is an acceptable morning pastime - I disagree), I was faced with the choice of starting my research or making something delicious. How could deliciousness ever lose to productivity?
This being my very first foray into cream puffery, I decided to forgo any flavor twists and to go straight for the classic - pâte à choux with a vanilla pastry cream filling. I used Martha Stewart's cream puff recipe but altered it to make about a third as many. Looking back, I wish I would've documented every step (and really, every misstep) with photos, but as it stands I only have a photo of the shells cooling - I'll take pictures of the filling tonight...
I started by preparing the pâte à choux , which seemed to go off without a hitch, until I baked them and nearly half of the shells had deflated not long after I took them out of the oven. my first thought was that the shells had gone too quickly from the hot air of the oven to the cool air of the kitchen (one of the windows was open from an earlier grilled cheese accident...). My theory seems to be confirmed by notes from Jacques Pépin's recipe on Chef's Story but other people's discussions of the problem led me to believe that the shells that collapsed hadn't been browned enough in the oven.
In any case, as the shells set in the freezer and then baked, I made the pastry cream. Another first. It was a little lumpy, I think from not being whisked enough while it cooked. After straining it twice, it's acceptable, but I've learned another lesson: never stop stirring.
In all, only about four of the total six shells were worth filling, which is perfect, as I plan to take them to a friend's house tonight. No one I know is having a very good week and I think my girl friends will appreciate a little extra dessert tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment