ASSEMBLING: Assemble the
choux as close as possible to serving time, no longer than an hour.
The closer the preparation time is to the serving time,
the smaller the likelihood that the pastries will begin to soften or get soggy.
If cream puffs must be held, keep
refrigerated.
Cream puffs:
Cut off the top third of each cream puff with a sharp, serrated knife. Line up
the bottom on a pan and, using a
star tube with a 1/2-inch opening, pipe the
whipped cream. Allow the cream to extend about an inch over the top
of the pastry. Dust tops with confectioners sugar and place them on the whipped
cream where it comes from the opening.
Éclairs:
Fill baked, cooled éclair shells
with pastry cream. Two
methods may be used:
a) Make a small hole in one end and fill with a
pastry bag or a doughnut filling pump.
b) Cut a slice lengthwise from side to side, not
from top to bottom and fill with a pastry bag. Replace lids.
Fill with
whatever filling you desire. Glaze with icing, pour sauce on top
and dip the tops of the éclairs in
chocolate ganache. Serve.
Cream Ring:
Use a slicing knife with a long serrated blade to cut the top off a cream puff
ring. Fill the bottom with
pastry cream (or
coffee cream, or chocolate cream) filling. Fill a pastry bag with sweetened
whipped cream. use a nozzle with a zigzag edge (like pinking shears) to squeeze
out a layer of fancy puff-balls of whipped cream all over the layer of pastry
cream filling. Finally, replace the lid and dust the top with powdered
confectioners' sugar. Keep the cream puff ring in a cool dry place until serving
time.
Adapted from
Nick Malgieri, Perfect Pastry, Macmillan, NY, 1989
