Recipes
Recipe: Egg-salad cream puffs
Recipe: Egg-salad cream puffs
Recipes
Recipe: Egg-salad cream puffs
Make the egg
salad for this recipe a day or two ahead, leaving plenty of time to set up on the day of the party. Bake these light-as-a-feather cream puffs early in the day. Store them in a turned-off oven. If the notion of making cream puffs is daunting, either buy them from a local bakery or substitute small soft rolls.
Ingredients (egg salad)
Ingredients (cream puffs)
1 To prepare the egg salad: Place the eggs in a large pot with enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for only 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 10 minutes. Drain the hot water off, and immediately run cold water over the eggs to stop the cooking process. Crack the shells of the eggs on the side of the pot. Let the eggs stand in the cold water until they are cool enough to handle, 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully peel off the shells.
2 Chop the eggs, transfer them to a mixing bowl, and season with salt and pepper.
3 In a small bowl, stir the mustard into the mayonnaise until well blended. Add just enough of the mayonnaise mixture to the eggs to bind them. Stir in the celery, scallions, and parsley (if using). Taste and adjust the seasonings. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until assembly.
4 To prepare the cream puffs: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Directions (cream puffs)
5 In a saucepan over high heat, bring the water, butter, salt, and nutmeg to a boil. Cook until the butter is melted, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, pour in the flour all at once, and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
6 Set the pan back on moderate heat and beat the mixture until it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball, about 3 minutes.
7 Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer. With the beaters running at high speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth, about 3 minutes longer.
8 Fill a star-tipped pastry bag with the choux paste and pipe six 2 1/2- to 3-inch circles onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Pipe another circle just inside the first circles, and then another inside that, filling the center and forming the puff.
9 Lightly brush the tops with the egg wash. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes until puffed and brown.
10 Remove the pan from the oven and make a small slit in the side of each puff with a small knife. Return the cream puffs to the oven and bake for 5 minutes longer. Turn off the oven and leave the puffs in the oven with the door ajar for 10 minutes .
11 Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, cut each cream puff in half horizontally. With your fingers or a fork, carefully pull out any uncooked dough inside and discard. Let cool on a rack.
12 Remove the tops of the cream puffs, spoon 3 or 4 tablespoonfuls of the egg salad into the bottoms, and replace the tops.
BUY THIS BOOK
Excerpted from Princess Tea by Janeen A. Sarlin with Noelle Shipley. Photographs by Sheri Giblin. Copyright © 2009 by Janeen A. Sarlin. Excerpted by permission of Chronicle Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Ingredients (egg salad)
- 8 eggs, preferably organic
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- About 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 stalk celery, peeled and minced (optional)
- 2 scallions, minced (optional)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Ingredients (cream puffs)
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
- ½ teaspoon salt
- About 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- Egg wash (1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water)
1 To prepare the egg salad: Place the eggs in a large pot with enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for only 1 minute. Turn off the heat and let the eggs stand in the hot water for 10 minutes. Drain the hot water off, and immediately run cold water over the eggs to stop the cooking process. Crack the shells of the eggs on the side of the pot. Let the eggs stand in the cold water until they are cool enough to handle, 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully peel off the shells.
2 Chop the eggs, transfer them to a mixing bowl, and season with salt and pepper.
3 In a small bowl, stir the mustard into the mayonnaise until well blended. Add just enough of the mayonnaise mixture to the eggs to bind them. Stir in the celery, scallions, and parsley (if using). Taste and adjust the seasonings. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until assembly.
4 To prepare the cream puffs: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Directions (cream puffs)
5 In a saucepan over high heat, bring the water, butter, salt, and nutmeg to a boil. Cook until the butter is melted, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, pour in the flour all at once, and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
6 Set the pan back on moderate heat and beat the mixture until it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball, about 3 minutes.
7 Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer. With the beaters running at high speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until smooth, about 3 minutes longer.
8 Fill a star-tipped pastry bag with the choux paste and pipe six 2 1/2- to 3-inch circles onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Pipe another circle just inside the first circles, and then another inside that, filling the center and forming the puff.
9 Lightly brush the tops with the egg wash. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes until puffed and brown.
10 Remove the pan from the oven and make a small slit in the side of each puff with a small knife. Return the cream puffs to the oven and bake for 5 minutes longer. Turn off the oven and leave the puffs in the oven with the door ajar for 10 minutes .
11 Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, cut each cream puff in half horizontally. With your fingers or a fork, carefully pull out any uncooked dough inside and discard. Let cool on a rack.
12 Remove the tops of the cream puffs, spoon 3 or 4 tablespoonfuls of the egg salad into the bottoms, and replace the tops.
Makes 12 three-inch cream puffs and about 2½ cups of egg salad.
BUY THIS BOOK
Excerpted from Princess Tea by Janeen A. Sarlin with Noelle Shipley. Photographs by Sheri Giblin. Copyright © 2009 by Janeen A. Sarlin. Excerpted by permission of Chronicle Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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