These pistachio cream puffs are made of choux pastry puffs stuffed with pistachio pastry cream then topped with chocolate, ground pistachio and a pinch of sea salt.
The best thing about them is that they're easy to make. There isn't a lot of technical skill required and you can even make them without special tools like piping tips.
These easy pistachio cream puffs were on repeat for me around the holidays last year because they're gorgeous little mouthfuls of joy that quickly get gobbled up by everyone as soon as they appear.
Our friends were just delighted by how beautiful they look but were even happier when they took their first bites and tasted the luscious pistachio pastry cream inside.
When you bite into them the pastry cream sort of explodes out and fills your mouth. It's...an experience. A heavenly one. But I also just have a love-love relationship with pastry cream. It might be one of my favourite sweet tastes of all because it's so pure - just creamy, milky and the perfect amount of sweet speckled with beautiful vanilla.
It's so good that whenever I make pastry cream I can't help but eat a few spoonfuls of it on it's own and it's just...a mouthful of pure indulgence.
Now imagine that pistachio flavored and in a chocolate covered choux puff...
Speaking of pistachio, if you love it as much as I do you may also like these:
- Puff Pastry Baklava with Pistachio
- Crispy Pork Belly Porchetta with Pistachio, Parmesan & Fennel Seed
- Prosciutto Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Pistachio & Red Pepper
Jump to:
Overview of Steps & Timing
Here are some times estimate and a general sequence of events to help you plan making this recipe.
- Measure out all the ingredients and have them ready to go - optional but highly recommended (10 minutes);
- Prepare the parchment paper by using a stencil to draw circles (5 minutes);
- Make the choux pastry dough on the stovetop and pipe out the puffs (20 minutes);
- Bake the choux pastry puffs - while they are baking make the pastry cream on the stovetop (20 minutes);
- Allow the choux pastry puffs to cool, while they're cooling heat up the chocolate for the glaze (5 minutes);
- Cut open all the choux puffs and spoon in the pastry cream (15 minutes);
- Spoon the glaze onto each choux puff (10 minutes).
The time indications are just approximations - it will depend on how fast you move and whether you have any distractions.
Step 1: Make Choux Pastry and Pastry Cream
Ingredients for the choux pastry and pastry cream
You'll notice a lot of the same ingredients in both photos below. This recipe really illustrates how similar ingredients can yield very different results when the quantities and methods change.
Choux pastry ingredients
- Full fat (whole) milk
- Butter
- Water
- White wheat flour
- Whole eggs
- Tiny bit of sugar and salt
Pistachio pastry cream ingredients
- Full fat (whole) milk
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg yolks
- Cornstarch: Be sure to use cornstarch, which is a very fine white powder. Corn flour is yellow and grainier. The naming conventions can also depend on where you live so use your best judgment.
- Pistachio paste: The pistachio paste I used is an Italian brand from an Italian deli in my neighbourhood. The same product goes by many names - it can be that it's called pistachio butter or pistachio cream etc. There are many different brands you can choose from but in general it should just be ground pistachios, oil, sugar and salt.
- Vanilla bean paste: I love Nielsen Massey Vanilla Bean Paste but a regular vanilla bean will also do or substitute the same amount of vanilla extract.
- Pinch of salt: This is a personal preference - I always add a pinch of salt to sweet for flavor balance. You can omit if you prefer.
- Almond extract: Fun fact - what most of us recognize as pistachio flavoring is actually almond most of the time because there is not really a good way of extracting and bottling pistachio flavor. You might find pistachio extracts on Amazon etc. but if you read the reviews (like for this one) the pistachio flavor is actually almond. So if it's almond anyway might as well use a high quality almond extract (not essence as this usually means synthetic flavor). I really like the Nielsen Massey Almond Extract - a little goes a long way. Be very careful not to overdo it or it can taste very bad.
How to make choux puffs
Equipment
You will need the following:
- A small saucepan
- A spatula
- A piping bag and number 12 round piping tip or a plastic freezer bag with a 1cm / 0.5 inch corner snipped off
- Two large cookie sheets lined with parchment / baking paper
- A stencil
Top Tip
It's very helpful to make a stencil on the parchment paper. Use a pencil and a espresso cup / pastry ring / shot glass - anything you can that's approximately 4 cm / 1.5 inches across.
Then flip the parchment paper around - you should still be able to see through it and use the drawn circles as a piping guide.
Steps
- Heat up the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt together until the butter is melted then add the flour all at once and cook in order to dry the flour out.
- Stir the paste continuously until it dries out. When the paste is leaving a film on the pan it's sufficiently cooked.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool then fold in the eggs with a spatula or wooden spoon one at a time.
- After all the eggs are incorporated, put the choux dough into a piping bag with number 12 round piping tip or plastic zipper bag with a 1 cm / 0.5 inch corner cut off.
- Pipe out 15 circles on each sheet of parchment paper.
Top Tip
Sharp points on the dough can burn while baking. To avoid this, lightly wet your fingers and gently smooth out or pat down any sharp points before baking.
How to make pastry cream
Equipment
You will need the following:
- A saucepan
- A wire whisk
- A heat-safe bowl (stainless steel, ceramic etc.)
- A small ladle or heat-safe measuring cup (optional but helpful)
Steps
It's crazy how easy it is to make pastry cream.
- Add the vanilla to the milk (or scrape in a vanilla bean) then heat the milk over medium until steaming and lightly simmering.
- While the milk is heating, whisk up the sugar with the egg yolks in the bowl until they lighten in color then whisk in the cornstarch and salt until smooth.
- Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture while whisking the whole time. You may need an extra hand to hold the bowl steady or put a damp kitchen towel underneath it. Pour the hot milk in first a ¼ cup or ladle at a time until half of the milk is in, then the rest can go in all at once.
- When all the milk is in the bowl, pour all the contents back in the saucepan and put back on the stovetop over medium heat.
- Whisk and heat until it thickens -it should only take a few minutes.
- When thickened to the consistency of Greek yogurt, remove from heat and stir in the butter and then the pistachio paste.
That's it!
Part 2: Glaze & Garnish
Ingredients for glazing and garnishing
The glaze is really simple because it's basically just two kinds of chocolate and some food coloring if you like.
- Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate add nice contrast to the overall mix and in comparison to the choux pastry and the ground pistachio. Also it tastes especially good with a bit of sea salt. You could also use milk chocolate or both milk and dark.
- White chocolate: The white chocolate is perfect because you can use it to make white choux puffs
- Gel food coloring: Gel is ideal since it doesn't introduce more liquid to the chocolate which could cause it to bloom or have other undesirable effect. In terms of color, I have a gel food coloring set that includes a few different shades of green and yellow which I combined to make the green shade shown in the photos. For a more natural pistachio green shade, add some yellow tones to get a color closer to sage than lime. Or if you want to go for bright pastel pistachio then a few drops of a cool green color will suffice.
- Ground pistachio: You can either buy pre-ground pistachios as I've done or otherwise grind your own in a food processor. Ideally use shelled pistachios for a finer and more green grind. Be sure not to over-process or they can go from ground to paste very quickly.
- Sea salt: Sea salt flakes (like Maldon Sea Salt) make for a slightly more elegant presentation if you have them. If not then regular sea salt (or simple regular salt) are also perfectly fine.
How to glaze and garnish the cream puffs
You'll need to melt the chocolates first. It's normally recommended to do this with a double boiler or bain-marie but I don't have the patience for that so I just microwave the chocolate for 15-20 seconds at a time and stir.
The risk of this method is that you can burn the chocolate which is a supremely unpleasant experience. You can avoid this by microwaving in very short bursts, stirring a lot and stopping as soon as the chocolate it melted.
Or just use a double boiler if that's more your style.
Once the chocolate is melted you just spoon it on then immediately (before the chocolate hardens) sprinkle on the ground pistachio and sea salt.
After you've used about half the white chocolate, stir in the green food coloring and do the rest in light green.
Making Ahead & Storage
You can make the components ahead of time and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days for the choux puffs and 3-4 days for the pastry cream.
The choux puffs can simply be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. The pastry cream is best stored in an airtight container with plastic film on top (so it doesn't form a skin).
If you want to fully prepare and glaze the cream puffs then store them, then you can also do so. If you do, they are best within 2 days as if you wait longer than that, the choux pastry can start to dry out.
Serving Suggestion
I combined these pistachio cream puffs with my festive holiday rum balls in this beautiful bonbon box arrangement. It makes a lovely presentation to take to gatherings.
I was absolutely tickled at my handiwork and all it took was a box I already had lying around and some muffin liners (regular sized for the cream puffs and mini for the rum balls).
Related
Looking for more recipe inspiration? Maybe you'll like one of these:
Recipe
Easy Pistachio Cream Puffs with Chocolate Glaze
Equipment
- small saucepan
- spatula
- wire whisk
- plastic freezer bag or piping bag with number 12 round piping tip
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 7oz or about 4 whole eggs
pistachio pastry cream
- 500 ml milk 2.12 cups
- 100 grams egg yolks 2.5oz or about 7 egg yolks
- 100 grams white sugar ½ cup
- 30 grams cornstarch 3 tablespoons
- 65 grams unsalted butter 2.3oz / half a stick plus 1 tablespoon
- 35 grams pistachio paste ¼ cup
- 2 grams salt a dash
- 0.25 teaspoons almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 scraped vanilla bean
three color 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
garnish
- 0.25 cup finely ground pistachio
- 0.5 teaspoon sea salt flakes
Instructions
choux pastry
- Preheat oven to 200 C / 400 F.
- Bring the milk, water, butter, salt and sugar to a gentle boil in a small saucepan.
- When the mixture is boiling, add the flour in all at once. It will form a paste called the 'panade'.
- Mix the panade around with a spatula until it dries out, leaves a film on the pot, and comes together into a smooth ball (about 3-5 minutes).
- Remove from heat and allow to cool until it stops steaming then add the eggs in one at a time, mixing well to incorporate.
- Put the choux dough into a piping bag or plastic zip bag with the corner cut off, and pipe out approximately two tablespoons into a round mound, leaving at least 5 centimeters / 2 inches between mounds, See recipe post for photos.
- Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the choux puffs are firm and feel hollow when tapped gently.
- Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Once cool, use a sharp knife to cut the top off each cream puff so it can be filled with pastry cream. You can also pipe directly into the cream puffs without cutting the tops off if you prefer (and if you have the appropriate piping tip to do this).
pistachio pastry cream
- Add the egg yolks and sugar to a bowl. and whisk until pale in color.
- Whisk in the cornstarch and salt until incorporated.
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it's so hot it's steaming and lightly foaming.
- Remove the saucepan from heat and immediately use a spoon or small ladle to spoon a few tablespoons at a time of the hot milk over the egg mixture, whisking all the while.
- Continue adding milk until at least half of the milk has been added then the contents of the bowl can go back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
- Put the saucepan back on the stovetop over medium heat and whisk constantly until it thickens into a thick cream (it should take about 3-4 minutes).
- Once the cream has thickened, remove from heat and immediately stir in the butter, pistachio paste and almond extract.
- Distribute the pistachio pastry cream into each cream puff, either by spooning or piping it in.
multicolor chocolate glaze
- When the choux puffs and cooled and filled you can make the chocolate glaze.
- Melt the chocolate either using a water bath or microwave in two small bowls for 15 seconds at a time each, stirring in between until the chocolate is melted.
- Glaze each cream puff with the milk chocolate and white chocolate by either dunking it into the melted chocolate or using a spoon to pour chocolate over the top.
- Top each cream puff with ground pistachio and a pinch of sea salt immediately after glazing.
- Once you've used half the white chocolate, mix the green food coloring into it (you may need to re-melt it) then continue glazing the remaining cream puffs.
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