It's summer and that means going to the beach, BBQs, sweating a little more than I'd like, and of course, s'mores by the fire! Memorial Day is the often considered the unofficial kick off of summer, and while I'm very thankful for all who have served, I am also very thankful for a long weekend. And as you do on this weekend, we had a BBQ and it was my job to bring a dessert. Challenge accepted. I wanted something seasonal and fun, but nothing usual. I'm a sucker for s'mores and I've always wanted to try making something with a choux pastry. LIGHTBULB. S'mores "creampuffs". Jackpot.
I've never made anything with choux before, I'm not amazing with a piping bag, will this take me all day? What can go wrong?
-1 sleeve graham crackers
-1 cup water
-1 stick of butter
-1 tsp salt
-3/4 cup flour
-5 eggs (4 for the dough and 1 for the egg wash)
-1 bag of mini marshmallows (sorry, can't buy these in small quantity, you'll only need 30 or so.)
-8oz semi-sweet melting chocolate
-5oz marshmallow fluff
*It's best if you have a piping bag and a large and a small piping tip. You'll need the structure and support it gives you to work with the delicate puff.
1. In a food processor, blitz up the graham crackers to fine crumbs.
2. In a large sauce pot on medium heat, bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil.
3. Once boiling, toss in the flour and graham cracker crumbs and stir, stir, stir for a couple minutes until you cook the flour taste out and it becomes a hunk of warm soft dough.
4. Take the pot off the heat and let stand to cool for 5 minutes. Keep it in the pan, no need to dirty more dishes than you have to!
5. Preheat your oven to 375F.
6. After the dough has cooled for 5 minutes mix in four eggs, one at a time. Be sure to incorporate each egg before adding the next one. Also, it's important to note that you might think you're doing it wrong because it looks like it will never come together. Trust me, it will, just keep stirring! You'll definitely get your arm workout with these babies.
7. Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a larger circle tip. Although this works best, if you cannot get these tools, use a zip lock bag with a corner cut off about an in up. If you're using a zip lock when it comes tim to pipe the fluff in the puff, carefully make a hole with a sharp knife in the bottom of the puff and stick the bag in to pipe the fluff.
8. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a non stick mat, with your bag at a 90 degree angle wth the pan, pipe a 1-2 inch round of dough. DO this until your dough is gone- since I have a small oven I had a few batches.
9. Whisk up the remaining egg and brush over the puffs- be sure to push down any points on the tops, if you have points on the top, they will burn!
10. Set a timer for 10 minutes. *Depending on how many trays you have in there, at the end of the 10 minutes, either put the bottom tray on top and the top tray on the bottom, or if you just have one, give the tray a turn so the side that was in front will now be in the back. Set a timer for another 15 minutes.
11. When this timer goes off, take the puffs out and allow to cool for a few minutes so you can carefully remove them from the tray without crushing them- they are very delicate after all! However, it's very important to know that if a couple happen fall into your mouth right out of the oven... I won't tell.
12. Allow the puffs to cool completely once removed from the pan.
14. Set the oven to broil.
15. Because these puffs are so small, I cut mini marshmallows in half and arranged on a sheet tray, cut side down. Place these under the boiler for maybe less than a minute. **Be sure to watch these, they burn in the blink of an eye! You just want them lightly brown, not charcoal.** When these are done, set aside to cool.
16. When the puffs have cooled, fill a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip with the fluff and carefully pipe the fluff into the bottom of the puffs. Don't go crazy with the pressure- it will explode. Apply the same pressure while removing the bag slowly, you'll feel the puff filling up as you go.
17. Melt the chocolate down in 30 second intervals in the microwave.
18. Dip each top of the puff in the melted chocolate.
19. While still wet, place a marshmallow on top of the sticky chocolate. *For some added fun, crunch up some more graham crackers and sprinkle some on top along with some sea salt. To. Die. For.*
20. Continue this for all the puffs and let them sit at room temperature for chocolate to dry!
ENJOY!
These were a big hit and I feel fairly confident that I conquered choux pastry with just one try! With this skill you can do a lot of fun fancy things- cream puffs, eclairs, cream horns, and even the ultimate confection- croque en bouche! Although choux doesn't traditionally have graham crackers in it, you get the picture. This is a really easy way to impress your friends, family, strangers, the cute guy in the cubical next to you, your cat. Once you get the basics down you can really work with a ton of different flavor combinations and get real fancy with yourself.
I think I'll definitely try some more things with choux, but for now, I'll end this with a quote from the great Johnny Drama... VICTORYYYY!
-Meaghan
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