Easy Pistachio Cream Puffs with Chocolate Glaze

Close up photo showing the finished cream puffs on a baking sheet.

Easy Pistachio Cream Puffs with Chocolate Glaze

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.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French, Fusion

Keyword chocolate, Pastry

Prep Time 1 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings cream puffs

Calories 129kcal

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.

Nutrition