Cream puffs with vanilla and chocolate pastry cream

I mad these for my sister for her 18th bday.  Though they are a bit time consuming, they are really easy to make.  You can make the pastry cream ahead of time but I suggest making your choux pastry the day ahead because pastry always tastes better the fresher it is.  I made two different kinds and then garnished the chocolate ones with melted chocolate so I could tell the difference between the two.  The recipe below will make more than enough pastry cream, and you will probably have a little bit left over.  I think it is better to have more than less so you don't feel like you have to ration the amount of cream you are putting into these puffs.  With cream puffs, the more cream the better I say!
I got this recipe out of a book called "The Golden Book of Desserts" edited by Ann McRae.
Choux pastry
1 Cup water
1/3 cup butter
1 cup unbleached flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs

Vanilla Pastry cream
5 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
pinch of salt
2 cups milk
2 tsp vanilla

Chocolate pastry cream
5 large egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
pinch of salt
2 cups milk
2 tsp vanilla
5 oz of chocolate

First make the pastry cream.  Beat the egg yolks until the are pale and creamy.  Next add the corn starch and salt, beat until completely mixed and set aside.  In a sauce pan bring the milk to a boil on a medium heat occasionally stirring.  When the milk is boiling slowly pour it into your egg mixture and stir.  Return everything to the stove and cook on low heat continuously stirring with a wooden spoon.  If you are unable to break up the lumps that form use a whisk.  Boil for a full minute or until mixture has thickened.  Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.

When you are done place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  gently push the plastic down until it is touching the top of the cream, this will prevent a skin from forming as it cools.  To make the chocolate cream, follow every step except for add the chocolate to the milk as you are bring it to a boil.  When the milk is boiling and all of the chocolate has melted add it to your egg mixture.  Allow both creams to cool on the counter top for about half an hour.  Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

For the Choux pastry, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a saucepan bring the water and the butter to a boil on low heat.  Make sure you don't cook it to long or on a high heat otherwise your butter will brown.  Will the butter is heating up combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a small bowl.  When your butter mixture is boiling, add the flour mixture to it stirring constantly until it comes away from the sides of the pan and starts looking like a soft dough.  Remove from heat, and let cool for five minutes.

Beat the eggs in one at a time.  When you are done the mixture will be a sticky glossy dough.

Fit your pastry bag with a plain nozzle and fill it up half way with the choux pastry.

On pastry lined baking sheets pipe walnut sized balls about about 2 inches apart.  Place in the oven   Bake for about 20- 25 minutes or until golden brown.  When done poke with a skewer or a small knife on the bottem of each puff to release steam.  Turn your oven off and leave it slightly ajar with the pastries still inside for about 15 minutes, then transfer them to a rack.  Turn the oven back on, when it is back to 350 degrees F, place your second batch in.  This is the most time consuming part!

 

Wait until your pastries are completely cool until moving on to the next part.  Fit a pastry bag with a small plain tip and fill half way with either the chocolate cream.  Using the holes you made earlier to realease steam, fill half of the puffs with the chocolate cream.  Do the same with the other half and the vanilla cream.  Garnish with powdered sugar, melted chocolate, and whipped cream.  I made these for seven people and they were gone withing a couple of minutes.  Even though we each had enough we could have eaten more.  I would say this recipe fully satisfies five people, the recipe makes forty small cream puffs so that would be eight per person.  This seems like a lot but the are so light and creamy that eight seems like a reasonable serving to me ha ha!

P.S. This was my attempt at a swan, it was a lot harder then I thought it would be!