It's officially summer and the garden is in full bloom. Vegetables, herbs, and all the flowers including those of the edible variety. Nasturtium, Marigold, Calendula, Elderflower, Lavender, Squash flowers, and Chamomile- oh my!
When you're surrounded by so much lush greenery it's hard not to be inspired. With so many flowers and so little time I knew I had to get in that kitchen and start creating.
The chamomile has been blooming quicker than we know what to do with it, so it was first on my list to experiment with. I've been seeing desserts using these fragrant flowers everywhere in the form of cakes or doughnuts, but I have yet to see them used in any kind of pastry. Chamomile has such a light, floral flavor and I wanted to create something that would compliment that. What better than cream puffs? They're little clouds of perfection filled with crème pâtissière and often glazed. They seemed like the perfect dessert base to play around with the flavors I wanted to use. I needed to come up with a flavor pairing for the chamomile and reminiscing on the many cups of chamomile tisane my Mamet served on late-summer evenings I knew that I wanted to feature honey.
And so, the honey-vanilla cream puff with a chamomile glaze was created!
I've never attempted a Pâte à Choux or Choux pastry (which translates literally from French to cabbage pastry- how cute!) but I have been longing to try my hand at it. To be honest, it always seemed a little daunting to me and the idea of it made me nervous but they say when you're scared of something you have to face your fears head on! So, it had to be done. And you guys! It wasn't hard! I used a recipe from ZoeBakes which I have included in this post, followed along with her Instagram tutorial (if you're into inspiring + beautiful bakes made simple- go follow her), and conquered a choux! There was definitely a learning curve with the piping of the batter and the second tray came out better than the first, but I was still really happy with the way these turned out.
Next up, was the crème pâtissière or pastry cream. It's basically a thicker custard used to fill pastries and oh man, is it scrumptious. Like the choux pastry, this is something I had never made before and was a teeny bit daunted by. It's definitely challenging in that you have to be careful to temper your mix and constantly keep it moving so that it doesn't separate, but as long as you are attentive and move quickly it is a recipe that is simple to master! Promise!
I couldn't find a honey pastry cream recipe online which just meant I had to come up with my own. Cooking is all about customizing to what you want. That being said, if you know you want a sweeter pastry cream simply add more sugar and less honey or vice versa. You can also play with the type of honey that you use. A citrus-honey would be lovely in this recipe or you could even use a lavender honey and switch up the glaze. It's all about YOU. The balance that I found in the recipe below makes a pastry cream where you can taste the natural sweetness of the honey, but it isn't cloying.
Since the chamomile is such a delicate flavor and the reason I came up with this recipe, I had to use it in a way where it wasn't competing with another flavor. A doughnut glaze, just powdered sugar and water, was the best way to showcase the flower. I steeped chamomile tea and added it to the sugar until it was the consistency I wanted. So easy and yet, it delivered the perfect touch of chamomile to the recipe.
These cream puffs were little clouds of honey and chamomile. The delicate flavors really came through with a natural sweetness. An elegant summer dessert that is sure to impress, they would be perfect for a garden party or just a treat for yourself and the lucky people with whom you choose to share them! I brought a tray of them to rehearsal and they were a hit- gone within minutes with several people taking second (or third) helpings! That's a success to me!
All the steps for the recipe can be found below!
Pâte à Choux Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, room temperature (If you forget to leave the eggs out, place them in warm water)
Process
Preheat the oven to 375 F
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or non-stick silicone. I invested in a silpat a couple of years ago and I can't recommend them enough.
In a saucepan, over medium heat, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt to a rapid simmer.
Once the mixture begins to bubble, dump the flour in all at once.
Stir with a wooden spoon over low heat. The dough will come together as a smooth, glossy ball and the bottom of the pan will have a skim of dough stuck to it.
Transfer the dough to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. You can do this next step in the pan, by hand, but it is more work!
Mix the dough for a few seconds on its own to allow it to cool.
Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides down after each egg. Make sure that each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
The dough will eventually come together as a smooth paste. It will be thick enough to hold its shape, but thin enough to pipe easily.
Fit a decorating bag with a 5/8 inch plain tip and pipe 1-1 1/2 inch rounds onto your prepared pans. There will be little peaks on the top of each round, this is normal. Wet your finger with a little bit of water and round them out.
Place the sheets into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes, until they are puffy, but have little color. Quickly rotate the trays from top to bottom and back to front. They may deflate a touch, but don’t fret, they will puff up again as they continue to bake. Bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes ( I ended up having to do the full ten, but you know your oven best!) or just until they start to turn golden.
Prop the door open with a wooden spoon and continue to bake for about 5 more minutes or until you get the color you desire. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before filling.
These can be made ahead and frozen for up to a couple of weeks.
Crème Pâtissière Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups milk
1 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp honey
Pinch salt
2 ½ tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste / extract / 1 vanilla bean pod
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg or 3 additional egg yolks for a richer pastry cream
3 tbsp unsalted butter-softened
Process
In a saucepan, heat the milk and sugar over medium heat until simmering.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, honey, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt.
Place the egg mix on top of a hand towel to prevent it from slipping and set it aside until the milk comes to a simmer.
Once the milk has come to a simmer, ladle a small amount- about a cup- into the the egg mixture whisking continuously. This step is called tempering and it stops the egg from cooking too quickly and scrambling!
Once the egg mixture is warm to the touch, whisk it into the milk.
Continue cooking over medium heat until it begins to boil, whisking vigorously and continuously for THREE minutes. Don't cheat or your mixture will separate!
Whisk in the butter until it is smooth.
Transfer into a bowl and immediately press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pastry cream- this prevents a skin from forming. Place it into an ice bath until it has cooled down and refrigerate until well chilled.
This pastry cream can be stored for a couple of days but trust me- it's so good it won't last that long!
Chamomile Glaze
Ingredients
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 bags chamomile tea
1/2 cup water
Process
Use 1/2 cup of boiled hot water and steep both bags of chamomile tea for 10 minutes or until deep in color.
Cool the tea.
With sugar in a separate bowl, whisk in the tea one spoonful of tea at a time until you have a consistency that is not too runny and thick enough that it will not slip off the pastry.
Use when ready.
Assembly
Once you have your cream puffs and your pastry cream completed and cooled you are ready to assemble. There are two methods of doing this. You can either gently slice the tops off the cream puff and spoon in your delicious pastry cream or pipe the pastry cream in through the bottom of the cream puff. I chose to pipe it in through the bottom because I wanted a neater look especially since I knew I was going to glaze them, but both methods are great! It's all about how you want it! To do this, you can either take a small knife and make a small incision in the bottom of your cream puff and fill it that way or simply use the tip on your pastry bag ( I used a filling tip- pictured below ) to make the incision. I like them with a fair amount of cream so I pipe the pastry cream in until it just starts to escape out of the bottom.
After the cream puffs have been filled, dip them top-side down into your glaze. It's up to you how much of the glaze you want, but I suggest a fair amount because it adds such a lovely flavor and ties the whole pastry together. In fact, I found myself wishing I could dip each bite into the glaze it was that good.
Simply allow the glaze to harden a little onto the cream puff and serve!
Try this recipe out and let me know how it goes! Or share with me if you make substitutions or experiment with your own flavors- I love to know what creative endeavors people get up to in their own kitchens. Happy Baking!
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