Cream Puffs!

Dear all, hope your weekend was great and relaxing! Mine was pretty exhausted but overall it was alright =) My usual weekend plan is to hang out with my bf but last week he wasn't able to make it so i ended up making cream puffs on Saturday. I had 2 experiences in making cream puffs in the past, which both of them took place during my good old uni times.

First time it was quite a messy experience as I did it in a very small kitchenette in school hall. Another problem is i didn't know the underlying theory of baking and therefore just follow the recipe without making any adjustment. Ended up with really watery mixture and therefore when it was baked, it was quite hard to form a proper shape. Unfortunately i lost the photos i took for my first ever made cream puff, which has extremely smooth surface as I dun have the tools to shape them into proper cream puff shape. Nevertheless, the taste was kinda good except the whipped cream melt down as i injected them when the cream puffs were still hot.

2nd time, i made cream puffs in my rented apartment as my housemates and i were in the bakingmania state at that time lol. I thought i can polish my skills of making cream puff there with more accuracy and appropriate adjustment. This time, I add the egg amount according to the texture of the dough as i dun wan it to be too watery again. The cream puff was a 100% success! However, not for the whipped cream. I didn't learn my lesson from last time and injected the whipped cream too fast too furious again so it melt. Foolish me. Absent-minded me. lol.

THIS TIME, i found a really detailed recipe which tells everything that i need to know. I will provide the link at the end of the post so that u guys can try it too =) However, i was worried that I might make too much cream puffs so i halved the amount of ingredients required. Another problem that i faced this time is that the eggs in my house is surprisingly too big. After i added in one egg, the dough texture quickly become like the porridge for little baby =.= No choice, i had to add in more flour as it won't form nicely even if i do nothing. First batch came out like crackers, so i add in more flour. Accidentally too much flour (damn it my shaky hands =.=). So 2nd batch does look like proper cream puffs, but the texture is too hard. Well, i have no more dough for 3rd batch so that's the end of it. haha.

Now, for the whipped cream. I used to buy ready-made whipped cream but this time, i decide to do it myself! This is the most enjoying part of the whole baking session to be honest. I used heavy cream bought from tesco and added in some honey for flavouring. I took advice from the web and put the cream into the fridge before i start whipping it. More problems! I can't find the whisk! So, ended up using a metal spoon. Luckily, metal spoon do the tricks too. It was surprisingly easier than i thought as after whisking for 5-10minutes, the texture of the cream changed.

So, i put it in the fridge again as i learnt that low temperature is the key of getting a good whipped cream haha. Today, i took out the whipped cream, and yey, it looks fantastic!

End of the story: Happy with how i made the whipped cream but not so proud of the cream puffs haha.

Oh yes, the link of the recipe: http://cook4youme.blogspot.com/2012/02/simple-cream-puff-for-2012-valentines.html

Enjoy!