Italian Cream Puff Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why are my cream puffs not fluffy? ›

There are multiple reasons why cream puffs may deflate. The first cause is undercooking. When preparing dough on the stovetop, be sure to keep cooking and stirring until a film forms on the bottom of the saucepan. Another cause of flat cream puffs is lowering the temperature during baking.

There are a few reasons your cream puffs might collapse or not puff up properly in the oven. The first is that you may not have cooked out the moisture enough. Make sure you give it a full 2 minutes on the stove. The second is that there is no way for the steam to escape when the puffs are baked.

Profiteroles or Cream Puffs – an historic French pastry | And how to make them. Profiteroles, the airy light pastries we all love (called cream puffs in the US) have been around for almost 500 years!

The essential ingredients are butter, water, flour and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in the dough evaporates when baked, puffing the pastry.

The Flour: Choux can be made with a range of wheat flour types. Some cooks prefer low-protein cake or pastry flour for the delicate choux puffs they can create, while others swear by high-protein bread flour for the sturdier choux it produces.

Why did my cream puffs collapse? If the puffs collapse it means there was too much moisture in them. So either you did not dry the dough enough, or they were not cooked enough. To avoid this I recommend drying the dough really well (see below) and cracking the door of the oven open when the choux are baked.

Potential reasons for each fault include insufficient cooling, eggs added too quickly, not beating the mixture enough, incorrect baking temperature or time, insufficient baking, and allowing the liquid to cool too much before adding flour.

If your cream puffs are moist inside after baking, this is because they did not bake long enough. In addition, the puffs need to dry out on the inside after baking. To help the pâte à choux dry out properly, turn the cream puffs upside down and use a toothpick to poke a hole in each one.

A profiterole (French: [pʁɔfitʁɔl]), cream puff (US), or chou à la crème ( French: [ʃu a la kʁɛm]) is a filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream.

Outside the United States, however, especially in the UK or Australia, profiteroles are more commonly used as a generic term for cream puffs as they can be filled with creams and sauces that go beyond whipped cream.

What is the difference between a cream puff and a profiterole? ›

Cream puffs bigger than one's palm are not unusual these days. Profiteroles, though also round, tend to be slightly smaller (and daintier) as well as more uniform in size. They're designed to hold just the right amount of ice cream or other filling without becoming unwieldy.

Potential reasons for each fault include insufficient cooling, eggs added too quickly, not beating the mixture enough, incorrect baking temperature or time, insufficient baking, and allowing the liquid to cool too much before adding flour.

Typical choux pastry formula includes:^2,3

Bring the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter to a boil, stir to combine. Remove from heat source, add the flour and continue stirring. Heat the mix again while stirring till the mixture becomes a cohesive mass and clears the side of the pot.

Your dough should be shiny and smooth.

You will know it's ready when the pastry has a consistency that slowly closes in on itself once the spoon has passed through. Your choux ball is ready when you have a skin at the bottom of the pan, which takes about 2-3 minutes on medium heat.

Pour in the final addition of beaten eggs very slowly. Stop adding when the choux pastry has reached the desired texture: shiny, thick, and smooth with a pipeable consistency. I usually leave a few teaspoons of beaten egg behind, which can be used with the egg wash.