Coconut Cream Puffs

 

 Very often, I’ll invite friends to come over to my house to cook with me. Of course, the first question I ask is “what is your favorite food?” Sometimes, we’ll do an entree, as in the case of my nephew Tommy, specifically Chicken Parm. Other times, as with my friend Maryann, we’ll learn how to make homemade jam. (that was a virtual lesson!)
 This time, I asked my friend, Chewie, what his favorite food is, and he said he loves coconut cream pie, and also cream puffs. So, naturally, I figured, why not combine them and make coconut cream puffs! Perfect, right?
 And then that thing happened again. That thing where I go looking on my website for a specific recipe, because “I’m SURE I had to have posted it during the last 13 years of blogging”… but no… it’s nowhere to be found. How does this keep happening? Has it really been that long since I’ve made cream puffs? Oh, well, it’s fine. No time like the present.
 So here they are. This recipe is from Tasty, and it’s a basic recipe for Choux Pastry (pronounced SHOO pastry), which can be used with any cream filling for cream puffs or eclairs. It may seem a little daunting, but it’s a pretty simple recipe to follow. And the payoff is HUGE. They turn out light and fluffy and perfect! Definitely worthy of your next holiday or special occasion! Thanx again for the suggestion, Chewie!



For the Cream Filling:
5 egg yolks
2 cups half & half
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


For the Puffs:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 pinch salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs, plus 1 more for egg wash


Preheat oven to 425˚F (220˚C).
To make the cream filling whisk together egg yolks, half and half, and coconut milk in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat.
Once combined, add in sugar and corn starch, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and comes to a light boil.
Remove from heat and mix in the shredded coconut and vanilla extract. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least two hours.

To make the puffs, combine the butter, water, coconut milk, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Allow all the butter to melt and bring the mixture to a boil.
As soon as the mixture begins to boil, reduce heat to medium-low and add in the flour.
Using a wooden spoon, mix thoroughly to incorporate the flour. Continue stirring until the dough starts to pull away from the sides and a thin film forms on the bottom of the pan (about three minutes).
Remove the mixture from heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Let the dough cool slightly.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, being sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding the next.
Once the dough comes together, transfer it to a piping bag.
Pipe onto a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet into 1½-inch (3 cm) mounds.
Smooth out any peaks/ridges caused by piping with a wet fingertip (this will ensure your puffs cook evenly and maintain a nice ball shape).
Then brush the dough with egg wash and place in preheated oven.
Bake for 15 minutes at 425˚F (220°C). Then, without opening the oven, reduce heat to 350˚ (180˚C) and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Remove puffs from oven. Using the tip of a knife, cut a small “x” into the bottom of each puff and transfer (“x” side up) to a cooling rack.
Just before serving (or up to two hours in advance), pipe the cream filling into the cooled puffs. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.


Tips:
You know I’m always one to tweak a recipe whenever I’m so inclined, but this recipe is pretty flawless. There isn’t much I would change! I will say, though, that I would add a little coconut extract to the cream filling, just to bump up the coconut flavor. And also the recipe doesn’t specify this, but it’s definitely easiest to use a mixer to add the eggs (still one at a time) to the dough, rather than stirring them in by hand. I mean, why wouldn’t you?
Oh, and one more thing… when I took the picture, it didn’t occur to me that maybe you’d like to see the yummy filling inside, and I didn’t slice one in half. You’ll just have to take my word for it that they’re filled with yummy coconut pastry cream !