Kawaii Panda Cream Puffs_lc.jpg
food

Kawaii Cream Puffs

Kawaii panda cream puffs with a biscuit crust!

Kawaii Cream Puffs

Ingredients

  • Cream Puffs
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 4 tbsp (2 ounces) unsalted butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3-4 large eggs
  • Biscuit Dough
  • 113g unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • Pastry Cream
  • 500ml (2 cups) thickened/whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • 105g (½ cup) granulated sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 cup milk
  • 30g (¼ cup) corn starch
  • 30g (¼ cup) all-purpose flour
  • 14g (1 tbsp) cold butter
  • Decorations
  • 200g dark chocolate, melted

Steps

  1. Cream Puffs
  2. Add the butter, water, milk and salt into a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil and then take off the heat. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
  3. Next, mix the dough using a hand mixer or stand mixer (can be done using a wooden spoon) to mix in one egg at a time. You’re looking for a dough that’s sticky but can hold its shape.
  4. Fit the end of a piping bag with a round tip and pipe rounds of the dough onto a baking tray lined with baking paper or a silicone baking mat. Space the rounds of dough about 4 fingers away from each other.
  5. Biscuit Dough
  6. Add the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and whip on high speed until light and fluffy. About 4 to 5 minutes.
  7. Add the flour and mix to combine. Split the dough into two pieces. Cut out 4 large pieces of baking paper. Lay two out on your bench and place each half on top. Cover with another piece of baking paper on top and use a rolling pin to roll to 3mm thin. Chill for 1 hour.
  8. Use a 3-inch cookie cutter to cut out 15 discs of dough.
  9. Place on top of the cream puffs and bake for 35 – 40 min on 375°F. Allow them to cool down.
  10. Pastry Cream
  11. Add 1 cup cream, egg yolks, salt, milk, sugar , flour and corn starch to a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, whisking each time until thickened. Add the butter and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to cool.
  12. Add the remaining cream and vanilla into a mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to whip to stiff peaks. Add the whipped cream to the cooled pastry cream and fold in using a spatula. If the cream looks like it’s not stiff enough, you can stiffen it up by whipping it using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
  13. Chocolate decorations
  14. Fit the end of a piping bag with a Wilton #3 piping tip and pipe out some circles of chocolate, about 1cm in width for the ears. Pipe some 1cm tall oval shapes for the eyes and a tiny little triangle shape for the nose. Pipe some small oval shapes for the hands.
  15. Assembly
  16. Cut the top of each cream puff using a serrated knife. Fill with pastry cream, Pipe a bulb of pastry cream on top too. Add the ears on top of the bulb, the eyes as the front, the nose in between the eyes and the hands at the bottom of the bulb.