Description
These Easy Pistachio Cream Puffs feature light and airy choux pastry shells filled with a rich pistachio pastry cream and topped with a luxurious multicolor chocolate glaze enhanced with ground pistachios and sea salt flakes. Perfect as an elegant dessert or a special treat, this recipe combines the crispness of baked choux with creamy pistachio filling and beautifully glazed chocolate tops.
Ingredients
Choux Pastry
- 100 ml milk (0.4 cup)
- 100 ml water (0.4 cup)
- 90 grams unsalted butter (0.4 cup)
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 2 grams salt (a dash)
- 110 grams flour (one cup minus two teaspoons)
- 200 grams whole egg (7 oz or about 4 whole eggs)
Pistachio Pastry Cream
- 500 ml milk (2.12 cups)
- 100 grams egg yolks (2.5 oz or about 7 egg yolks)
- 100 grams white sugar (1/2 cup)
- 30 grams cornstarch (3 tablespoons)
- 65 grams unsalted butter (2.3 oz / half a stick plus 1 tablespoon)
- 35 grams pistachio paste (1/4 cup)
- 2 grams salt (a dash)
- 0.25 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 1 scraped vanilla bean)
Multicolor Chocolate Glaze
- 50 grams milk chocolate (about 1.8 oz)
- 100 grams white chocolate (about 3.5 oz)
- 0.25 teaspoon green food coloring (optional)
- 0.25 cup finely ground pistachio
- 0.5 teaspoon sea salt flakes
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Set your oven to 200°C (400°F) to prepare for baking the choux pastry.
- Make Choux Pastry Base: In a small saucepan, combine milk, water, unsalted butter, salt, and sugar. Bring this mixture to a gentle boil.
- Form Panade: Once boiling, add the flour all at once. Stir with a spatula until the mixture dries out, pulls away from the sides, and forms a smooth ball of dough, about 3-5 minutes.
- Cool Dough and Add Eggs: Remove from heat and let cool until no longer steaming. Incorporate whole eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition until the dough is smooth and consistent.
- Pipe and Bake Choux: Transfer dough to a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off. Pipe rounds of approximately two tablespoons each onto a baking tray, spacing them about 5 cm (2 inches) apart. Bake for around 20 minutes until the puffs feel firm and hollow when tapped. Remove and cool. Optionally, cut tops off each puff or prepare for filling with a piping tip.
- Prepare Pistachio Pastry Cream: Whisk egg yolks with sugar until pale. Add cornstarch and salt, whisking to incorporate. Heat milk in a saucepan until steaming and lightly foaming. Gradually temper the egg mixture with hot milk by spooning a few tablespoons at a time while whisking. After adding half the milk, return the entire mixture to the saucepan with remaining milk and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Finish Pastry Cream: Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter, pistachio paste, almond extract, and vanilla bean paste. Mix until fully combined and smooth.
- Fill Cream Puffs: Use a spoon or piping bag to fill each cooled puff with the pistachio pastry cream.
- Melt Chocolates: Melt milk chocolate and white chocolate separately using a double boiler or microwave, heating in 15-second intervals and stirring in between until smooth.
- Apply Chocolate Glaze: Glaze each cream puff by dunking into melted chocolate or spooning chocolate over the top. Immediately sprinkle ground pistachio and sea salt flakes on each glazed puff.
- Add Color to White Chocolate: After glazing with half the white chocolate, mix green food coloring into the remaining white chocolate (re-melt if necessary) and continue glazing the rest of the cream puffs for a multicolor effect.
Notes
- When piping choux dough, spacing is important to allow for expansion while baking.
- You can pipe pastry cream directly into puffs without removing tops if you have a suitable piping tip.
- Use fresh ingredients, especially pistachio paste, for optimal flavor.
- The optional green food coloring enhances the visual appeal of the white chocolate glaze but can be omitted.
- Ensure the pastry cream is thick enough before filling to avoid soggy puffs.
- Store assembled cream puffs refrigerated and consume within 2 days for best freshness.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
