I love choux buns. I’m generally averse to food that has oozy and sloppily messy elements once bitten into, but for choux buns (and some good stuffed donuts) I make that exception. It’s also just the marriage of a slightly salty pastry base with a sweet cream that is just so crave-able. Anyway, this particular set of choux buns or cream puffs was my attempt at bringing together an unconventional, almost unheard of flavour profile (or so I hope), while steering away from sickly-sweet pastry creams and fillings.

Besides, there is almost nothing as gratifying as watching your buns rise and glow in the heat - all puns absolutely intended.

INGREDIENTS

GROUP A: CHARRED LEMON CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE

• 1/2 lemon, thickly cut into 3 slices

• 1/2 cup vanilla oat milk

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 2 egg yolks (save the whites to make a frothy cocktail!)

• 25 g granulated sugar

• 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

• 2 drops liquid smoke (optional)

• Yellow food colouring (optional)

GROUP B: WHIPPED WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

• 57.5 g baking quality white chocolate

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

GROUP C: CRAQUELIN

• 14 g butter, softened at room temperature

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 2 1/2 tbsp AP flour

GROUP D: PÂTE À CHOUX

• 28.5 ml water

• 28.5 ml whole milk

• 1/4 tsp granulated sugar

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 29 g butter

• 35 g AP flour

• 50 g (~ 3/4 of a large egg) egg, lightly beaten*

GROUP E: GARNISH

• Zest from 1/2 lime

• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

*NOTES:

1. Use a kitchen scale to precisely measure out your ingredients in the right units!

2. Do not dump the entire beaten egg(s) into the choux batter all at once. The measurement here is almost set in stone for this small batch bake, but depending on where you live, egg sizes can change. Add the egg in a slow stream to achieve a sticky, pipe-able dough, a bit similar to silly putty.

3. The individual elements can stay fresh for up to 5 days. If all the choux buns are not being consumed all at once, only assemble as many and when necessary.

method

A] Charred lemon cream:

• Char the cut lemon slices on a grill pan (preferred) till they have deep brown grill marks on both sides. Squeeze the charred slices to extract the juice and set it aside (use it as a flavour additive in a drink!). Cut up the remaining charred rinds with the smoky flesh clinging on to them.

• Combine oat milk and heavy cream in a small saucepan. Add the rinds to the mixture. Place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.

• Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch, in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Slowly pour the hot milk mixture over egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.

• Return mixture to saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 6 – 8 minutes, or until custard thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon.

• Transfer the custard into a large bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the custard (to prevent a film from forming). Refrigerate for 3 hours at the very least, till the cream is completely chilled.

B] Whipped White Chocolate Ganache

• Chop the white chocolate into small pieces and place into a medium bowl.

• In a saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil, while stirring continuously. Once it has boiled, pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and stir/whisk it with a fork to dissolve the chocolate completely. Set in the refrigerator to chill, at least 4 hours.

• Once chilled and ready to use whisk the ganache to medium-stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round pastry tip to pipe into choux pastries once baked. This last step can be pushed off till the very end when it’s time to assemble.

C] Pâte à Choux

• Preheat oven to 350 F.

• In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Bring to a light boil, remove from heat, and immediately add in all the flour. Quickly stir in the flour, using a rubber spatula, and return the saucepan back over medium-high heat.

• Continue to stir the mixture, without stopping, until the paste is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. It will pull away from the sides of the pan and leave a thin coating of cooked paste on the bottom when ready. The texture should resemble dry mashed potatoes and has a distinct smell of cooked dough.

• Transfer the paste to a large bowl and use your hand mixer’s beaters or your stand mixer’s paddle attachment to mix on low, for the choux to cool down.

• Gradually stream in the lightly beaten egg (read note #2 from the Notes section!). Mix until well combined and that sticky, pipeable, silly putty consistency has been achieved.

• Transfer the pâte à choux to a piping bag or bottle with a round tip. Pipe out 7 - 8 choux mounds about 1 inch in diameter onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving roughly 2 inches between each mound. Add the craquelin circles atop each mound at this stage.

• Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately bake choux puffs for 25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and turn down the oven to 325 F, then bake for 8 - 10 minutes more until choux are deeply golden. Remove from the oven and set on cooling rack to cool completely at room temperature.

D] Craquelin

• In a medium bowl, combine all Group C ingredients and mix with a spoon (or your fingers), till smooth.

• Roll out the craquelin dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Use a cookie cutter (or anything that qualifies as one) and cut out as many circles as choux mounds, then top each mound with a craquelin circle prior to baking.

E] Assembly

• Trim off the tops of the cooled choux pastry, right where the craquelin ends, with a sharp serrated knife. Set aside.

• Spoon the charred lemon cream into the bottom halves of the choux.

• Pipe two rings of the whipped ganache on top of the custard.

• Place the ‘hat’ of the choux on top of the ganache. Garnish with the lime zest sugar mixed together by hand. Serve immediately!

Recipe adapted from Constellation Inspiration’s Whipped White Chocolate Ganache And Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Puffs