You are Once, Twice, Three times a PUFF and I love you!

I have wanted to make durian cream puff for a long time.  Now it is durian season in Malaysia and since I have some really nice durian on hand, I decided to stop procrastining and just do it. 

I got mini pancakes instead of cream puff for my first attempt. I followed the recipe to the T. I had no clue what went wrong. Instead of throwing food away, I made mini pancake sandwich with durian cream filling out of it.  My sister in law loved them and said the taste was very good so I gave them all to her. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures because I was disappointed with the result.

The second time, I used another recipe from taste.com but I misread the measurement on flour. Oh yes, user error, or can I blame it on my spectacles instead?  I got puffs but they were not soft enough. I went ahead filling them up and ate them anyway. I hate wasting food. Since there was cream in the filling, my mum would not eat them. Poor Quay Po got to eat durian cream puff for breakfast, lunch and dinner all by herself for the next few days.

puff from my second attempt

This is featured on Asian Food Channel (Official) Facebook Page

on 25th June 2012

You might think that after having cream puffs coming out of my ears, I will stay away from it for months, right? Oh no, as soon as I ate the last piece, I tried making them again, Hooray! the third attempt was a SUCCESS!


As I was watching these puffs rising in the oven, I heard this song playing on the radio, “Three times a lady”. So I sang along but instead of singing “ You are Once, Twice, Three times a lady and I love you”, I sang “You are Once, Twice, Three times a PUFF and I love you!”  That was how happy I was with the result of my bake. LOL!


I shared some with my neighbor and she told me they enjoyed the puffs very much and asked what kind of durian I used for the filling. I told her I used "Musang King" durian and she thinks I am crazy!  For Westerners who are not familiar with durians, "Musang King" durian is one of the best grade of durians and originally came from the highlands of Pahang, the largest state in Peninsular Malaysia. They are rather expensive, the market price is about RM50.00 per kilo (approx. US$13.00).  This durian is so famous and tasty that the Macau gambling tycoon, Stanley Ho, had chartered his private jet to buy 88 "Musang King" durians for RM4800.00!!  It is incredible what the rich and famous will do when money is no object.

the preparation

puff before filling

puff with the durian filling

Note: you may find that the durian cream filling is not smooth in the photo, that was because I used only pureed durian pulps because my mum does not like the cream. This give a very rich durian taste. If you prefer a smoother filling, please use the durian cream filling instead of pureed durian pulps.

Durian cream puff

Choux Pastry

Adapted from www.taste.com.au

Ingredients:

Make about 15 profiteroles

80ml (1/3 cup) water

40g butter, at room temperature, cubed

50g (1/3 cup) plain flour, sifted

2 eggs, at room temperature

Method:

Place water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until butter melts and mixture just comes to the boil.

Add all the flour to the butter mixture at once and use a wooden spoon to beat until well combined. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball and begins to come away from the side of the saucepan. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl, then add it to the flour mixture, beating well with a wooden spoon. Gradually add a little of the reserved egg and beat until the mixture just falls from the spoon but still holds its shape.

Preheat oven to 195°C. Brush a baking tray with oil to lightly grease. Spoon 15 – 16 heap teaspoonsful of the mixture onto tray, about 3cm apart. Alternatively, use a pastry bag fitted with a 1.5cm-diameter plain piping nozzle to pipe the profiteroles onto the baking tray. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the profiteroles are puffed and golden.

Remove from oven. Using a skewer or a small knife, pierce the base (or top) of each profiterole to release the steam. Return the profiteroles to the oven and leave them for 5 minutes to dry out. Remove the profiteroles from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Notes:

When making choux, cut the butter into small pieces so it melts quickly and evenly, reducing the amount of water that evaporates.

All the flour must be added at once so it cooks evenly. Beat vigorously until the mixture is smooth and comes away from the side of the pan. Do not over-beat.

Set the mixture aside to cool slightly so the eggs don't cook when they are beaten in.

The amount of egg required varies with each batch. It depends how big the eggs are and how much egg the flour absorbs. Too much egg will make the choux rise unevenly and spread. Not enough egg and the choux will be stodgy.

Durian cream fillings

Adapted from Baking Mum

Ingredients:

125 ml of non-diary whipping cream

equivalent amount of durian pulps

5 gm of gelatine powder

1/2 tbs of hot water to dissolve gelatine powder

Method:

Whip up whipping cream to a soft peak. Add in durian pulps and melted gelatine powder and mix well. Put fillings in a piping bag and pipe it out into the baked choux pastry. If you like, you can just spoon the fillings into the pastry too. Dust the top of the pastry with some snow powder and leave it in fridge to chill before serving.