Pandan, Ube and Strawberry Craquelin Profiteroles – Recipe

I kept seeing these crackly-topped profiteroles on the internet, but it wasn't until recently when I stumbled upon a how-to video on Youtube that I discovered how to make them. You know those pineapple buns / melon pan you can get in Chinese or Japanese bakeries? Same concept: you have the dough base, and then a sweet biscuity outer coating that cracks when it's baked (which is the 'craquelin').


Of course this is me, so I added some colours and flavours when I made them for myself.

Ingredients for Filling

250ml milk
40g unsalted butter
2 eggs
150g caster sugar
3 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp vanilla
300ml double cream

Ingredients for Craquelin

60g soft brown sugar
50g unsalted butter, softened
50g plain flour
Strawberry, ube and pandan flavouring (optional)

Ingredients for Choux Pastry

60g unsalted butter
120ml water
3 tsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
80g plain flour
2 eggs

Method

1. Make the crème pâtissière for the filling first: whisk the egg, cornflour, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl, and bring the milk and butter to the boil in a pan. As soon as the milk mixture comes to the boil, take it off the heat and pour it over the egg mixture, whisking well as you pour. Pour everything back into the saucepan and cook over a low to medium heat stirring continuously until very thick. Scrap into a clean bowl, cover with clingfilm and let cool down completely. (The cream will be used later).

2. Make the craquelin dough next: stir the sugar, flour and softened butter together until it forms a dough. Divide into three portions and colour/flavour each with your different flavours. Between two sheets of clingfilm, roll each portion out flat and thin, and pop the in the fridge for an hour until firm.


3. Preheat the oven to 200°C, and line a baking tray with non-stick paper. To make the choux, heat the water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan until the butter melts and the mixture just comes to a simmer. Add the flour and stir well, and continue to cook over a low heat until the mixture forms a smooth, doughy ball. Take off the heat and let cool for five minutes then stir in the eggs one by one, mixing well to incorporate.

4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag, and pipe 16 even blobs onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly. Take your craquelin sheets out of the fridge, stamp out little circles and place on top of the choux blobs. Pop in the oven, reduce the heat to 180°C, and bake for 20 minutes until puffy and risen.

Bottom left: I couldn't resist doing a Frankenstein one...



5. Poke a hole in the side of each profiterole with a skewer to let the steam out, and let cool completely on a wire rack.


6. When you're ready to fill them, give your cool, set crème pâtissière a good stir, whip the double cream until soft peaks form and fold into the crème pâtissière. Spoon into a piping bag with a pointy tip, and pipe the cream filling into the profiteroles through the holes you made earlier.



Have fun eating these delicious little puffs of goodness!

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