Shu Cream (シュークリーム, Japanese cream puff)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Digital scale
• •Heavy saucepan
• •Wooden spoon or sturdy silicone spatula
• •Piping bag with a 1.2cm round tip (kuchigane), or a sturdy zip-top bag with one corner cut
• •Baking sheet with parchment
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Wire rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Warm the milk

   Put the 300ml milk and vanilla bean in a small saucepan and warm until tiny bubbles gather at the edge. Take it off the heat and let it stand for 10 minutes if using a bean. You're drawing the vanilla into the milk before the eggs arrive, so the custard tastes clean and even, not perfumed only in one corner.

2. 2

   Mix the yolks

   Whisk the yolks and 65g sugar until the mixture lightens a little, then whisk in the cornstarch and salt. Sugar loosens the yolks and helps protect them from scrambling, while the starch gives the custard its body. A smooth paste now means a smooth filling later.

3. 3

   Cook the custard

   Whisk half the warm milk into the yolks, then pour everything back into the pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens and slow bubbles break at the surface, about 2 minutes. Keep cooking for 30 seconds after it thickens. The starch must fully cook, or the custard will taste raw and loosen as it cools. Off the heat, whisk in the 15g butter and vanilla extract if using it.

   If you see lumps, pass the custard through a fine sieve while it's still warm. That is repair, not shame. A sieve has saved many reputations.
4. 4

   Chill the custard

   Scrape the custard into a shallow bowl and press a piece of parchment or film directly on the surface. Chill until completely cold, at least 1 hour. The cover prevents a skin, and the cold matters: warm custard melts the cream and softens the shell before it ever reaches the table.

5. 5

   Prepare the oven

   Heat the oven to 200C or 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and, if you like order, trace ten 4cm circles on the underside as a guide. Have the beaten eggs ready in a small bowl. Choux waits badly once the flour is cooked, so set the bench before you begin.

6. 6

   Boil the liquid

   Combine the 60ml milk, 60ml water, 50g butter, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Bring it to a full boil, with the butter completely melted. The boil disperses the fat through the liquid; if the flour goes in too soon, the paste cooks unevenly and the shells rise unevenly.

7. 7

   Dry the dough

   Add the sifted cake flour all at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon. Keep the pan over medium heat and cook the paste for 2 to 3 minutes, until it gathers into one smooth mass, pulls from the sides, and leaves a thin film on the bottom of the pan. This is the first secret. You're drying the dough so it can take in egg without becoming batter, and you're gelatinizing the flour so the shell can stretch around the steam in the oven.

   If the paste still looks wet and shiny, keep stirring. A wet choux dough spreads low and sulks. A properly dried one stands up and makes a hollow room for the cream.
8. 8

   Add the eggs

   Move the hot dough to a bowl and let it cool for 3 minutes, just so the eggs don't scramble. Beat in the eggs a little at a time, mixing fully after each addition. You may not need every drop. Stop when the dough is glossy and falls from the spoon in a thick V-shaped ribbon. Eggs give the dough stretch and structure, but too much egg turns it loose, and loose dough cannot climb.

   The dough tells you when to stop. Trust the ribbon more than the number of eggs, because flour, pan heat, and the season all change how much egg it wants.
9. 9

   Pipe the shells

   Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a plain round tip. Pipe ten mounds, each about 4cm wide, leaving space between them. Pat down any pointed tips with a wet fingertip so they don't scorch before the shell is cooked. A small, neat mound rises more evenly than a dramatic one. We are making shu cream, not a monument.

10. 10

    Bake until hollow

    Bake at 200C or 400F for 15 minutes, then lower the oven to 180C or 350F and bake 18 to 22 minutes more. Do not open the oven until the shells are deeply golden and the cracks look dry. The heat must set the outside before the steam escapes from within. Open the door early and the half-set shell loses its lift.

11. 11

    Dry and cool

    Pierce each shell near the side with a skewer, then return them to the turned-off oven with the door cracked for 10 minutes. The small hole lets trapped moisture leave, which keeps the inside from turning damp. Move the shells to a rack and cool completely. A shell that is even a little warm will melt the filling and trade crispness for sog.

12. 12

    Lighten the filling

    Whisk the chilled custard until smooth. In another bowl, whip the cold heavy cream to soft peaks, then fold it into the custard in two additions. Stop when the filling is smooth, pale, and pipeable. The cream lightens the custard, but it should still taste of egg, milk, and vanilla, with nothing hidden.

13. 13

    Fill and serve

    Cut a small slit in the side or base of each cooled shell and pipe in the custard cream just before serving, stopping when the puff feels full but not strained. Dust lightly with powdered sugar if you like. Fill late. The hollow shell was built to hold cream, but once it does, the clock starts, and the crisp edge begins to soften.

Chef Tips

• •Use a scale for the flour and butter. Choux is forgiving in spirit, but not in guesswork. A spoonful too much flour or a soft lump of butter changes how much egg the dough can drink.
• •Cake flour gives the shell a tender Japanese bakery texture. All-purpose flour is a sensible stand-in and will make a sturdier shell, but don't pretend the bite is exactly the same.
• •Beat three eggs, but expect to leave some behind. The right dough hangs in a V from the spoon. If it runs like cake batter, you've gone too far and the oven cannot make it stand.
• •Fill as close to eating as you can. Empty shells keep their crispness; filled shells begin to soften. That is not failure, just the nature of a dry little room after cream moves in.
• •If the shells collapse, look first at color and drying. Pale shells are usually underbaked, and shells with wet cracks needed more time in the oven or a longer rest with the door cracked.

Advance Preparation

• •The custard can be made 1 day ahead. Keep it covered directly on the surface and refrigerated, then whisk it smooth before folding in the whipped cream.
• •The unfilled shells can be baked 1 day ahead and kept loosely covered at room temperature. Recrisp them at 160C or 325F for 6 to 8 minutes, then cool completely before filling.
• •For longer storage, freeze the unfilled shells for up to 1 month. Reheat from frozen at 160C or 325F until dry and crisp, then cool fully.
• •Fold the whipped cream into the custard and fill the shells no more than 2 hours before serving. They are at their best in the first hour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 85g)