Description
Delightfully light and airy chocolate cream puffs featuring a rich chocolate choux pastry filled with luscious homemade chocolate chantilly cream. These elegant French pastries are perfect for special occasions or an indulgent treat, showcasing a deep cocoa flavor balanced by a smooth, sweet whipped cream filling.
Ingredients
Chocolate Choux Pastry
- 30 g Dutch cocoa powder (about 3 tbsp)
- 140 g all-purpose flour
- 236 g water (1 cup)
- 115 g unsalted butter (1 stick, cut into cubes)
- 50 g white sugar (about 3 tbsp)
- ½ tsp sea salt (less if using table salt)
- 4 large eggs (may not use all)
Bloomed Cocoa Paste
- 120 mL heavy whipping cream (½ cup, for blooming cocoa)
- 50 g cocoa powder (5 tbsp, packed, dutch or natural)
Chocolate Chantilly Cream Filling
- 480 mL heavy whipping cream (2 cups, chilled)
- 100 g caster sugar (scant ½ cup, adjust for sweetness)
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- ⅛ tsp sea salt (or ¼ tsp for salty-sweet flavor)
Instructions
- Prepare Chocolate Choux Pastry: Preheat oven to 400°F / 204°C. Sift flour and cocoa powder together. In a saucepan, combine salt, water, sugar, and butter; heat over medium stirring until butter, salt, and sugar dissolve and water boils. Remove from heat; immediately add flour-cocoa mixture and vigorously stir until dough forms. Return to medium heat and cook for 1 minute until dough pulls from pan sides and a film forms. Transfer dough to a bowl, cool to 170°F / 77°C, mixing gently.
- Add Eggs to Dough: Whisk one egg and mix into dough thoroughly, then add second and third eggs one at a time mixing well. Add the fourth egg gradually until dough is glossy, pipeable, and forms a “V” when lifted with a spatula. Do not add too much egg.
- Pipe and Bake Choux Pastry: Prepare baking tray with parchment paper. Pipe dough mounds spaced 1–1.5 inches apart, flatten peaks with a damp finger. Bake at 400°F / 204°C for 10 minutes, reduce oven to 375°F / 190°C and bake 15–20 minutes without opening door. Rotate tray, bake 5 minutes more until golden with hardened tops. Prick pastries with toothpick, bake 3–5 more minutes to dry out. Cool completely in a draft-free area.
- Bloom Cocoa Powder: Sift cocoa powder. Heat 120 mL heavy cream to simmer, remove from heat, whisk in cocoa powder until thick and smooth. Cover and chill in fridge for about 1 hour until cooled or slightly cooler than room temperature.
- Prepare Cocoa Chantilly Mixture: Stir about 120 mL of remaining heavy cream into the chilled cocoa paste to loosen. Add remaining cream and whisk lightly until combined smoothly.
- Make Chocolate Chantilly Cream: Add salt and vanilla to cocoa cream mixture. Whisk at medium speed while streaming in caster sugar until mid-peaks form. Taste and add more sugar if desired. Continue whisking at low speed or by hand until stiff peaks form. Fold gently to combine.
- Fill Choux Pastries: Cut top 1/3 off each cooled pastry. Remove or push aside internal webbings. Fill a piping bag fitted with an open or French star tip with chocolate chantilly. Pipe filling into the bottom half of the pastries, optionally overfilling. Replace tops and dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.
Notes
- Do not open oven during the initial 15–20 minutes at 375°F to ensure proper puffing.
- The fourth egg is added gradually to avoid an overly wet dough that prevents puffing.
- Choux pastries are best served within 24 hours of baking and filling for optimal texture.
- The cocoa powder can be dutch processed or natural; measure by weight for accuracy.
- Whipped cream can be sweetened more or less according to taste.
- Store filled cream puffs refrigerated and consume within the same day.
