Cream Puffs With Orange Whipped Mascarpone

Today we attended a cross country carnival at the twin’s school. This was a first for my boys who have just started school this year. A first among the innumerable races they will perhaps run through childhood and adulthood and the many ‘finishing lines’ they will persue in real life. To say that they were excited would be an understatement. One of them was up way past bedtime yesterday. ‘I can’t sleep. What if I don’t win?’ I was surprised, happy and a wee bit disappointed that my baby boy appeared to have grown up in leaps and bounds in the past one month. I told him what my mum told me as a child ‘It is more important to give your best’.

It was evident that he was not convinced with my answer and continued to fret till he fell asleep holding his teddy bear who in recent times has been lovingly named after their school house. In the morning, everyone was in high spirits at the school. Mums and Dads had decided to wear respective house color clothes to support their children and the school pretty much resembled (for lack of a better description, sorry!) a giant box of mobile Nestle Smarties (can’t stop thinking about food, eh?)

The race began. Despite being forbidden by the Housemaster to come close to the running track and causing distraction to the boys, the parents made a mad dash after the little ones with their mobile phones. ‘OMG he is running for the first time’, ‘OMG he is running first time in his house t-shirt’ ‘OMG I have taken the day off for this landmark event’ You know what I mean! As much as I love photography, I am actually terrible at using my phone camera. So I don’t even make an attempt and leave that bit for my husband who is quite a pro in taking pictures with the phone. I stood in one corner and thoroughly enjoyed the race and watching frantic parents running uphill and downhill alongside the boys.

I had made these cream puffs for an after school treat. I am crazy for choux pastry! I thoroughly enjoy making it and almost always use the same batch to make cream puffs or profiteroles and eclairs at the same time and at home every one loves to eat 2 or 3 at a time. They are such light, delicate, addictive little treats. If you haven’t made choux pastry before, do give them a try. They aren’t difficult to make. The only thing is that you will need to pay attention to details the first time. Once you get a feel of things, you will want to make them over and over again. When they raise their little brown heads in the oven, you will feel a sense of excitement. They are in fact creating a little hollow inside for you to fill up with your favorite cream, custard or chocolate filling. I have filled these with whipped mascarpone that has been infused with orange zest. Easy peasy but very tasty.

You may want to serve them with a chocolate sauce but here, since the filling is slightly rich, I thought a dusting of icing sugar is good enough.

 

Cream Puffs With Orange Whipped Mascarpone
Makes 15 

60 g butter, chopped
3/4 cup (185 ml) water
3/4 cup (115 g) plain flour
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (180 degrees C for fan-forced). Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

Heat the butter and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts and the mixture comes to the boil. Remove from heat. Sift in the flour. Use a wooden spoon to beat for 1-2 minutes or until mixture comes away from side of pan. Transfer mixture to a heatproof bowl. Set aside, stirring occasionally, to cool slightly.

Using an electric mixer, beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until mixture is thick and glossy.

Pipe the mixture or place tablespoonfuls of mixture on the prepared baking tray 3 cm apart from each other. Use wet hands to pat down any peaks of dough. Sprinkle trays with water to create steam. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Turn off the oven. Use a knife to pierce the base of each puff. Place the puffs in oven for 20 minutes to dry out. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To assemble, using a serrated knife, slice through the top third of the choux puff. Leave the top aside. Pipe or fill up the base with whipped orange mascarpone (recipe below). Put the top back. Dust with icing sugar. Repeat with all the choux puffs.

Orange Whipped Mascarpone

1 cup mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest

To make the orange whipped mascarpone, place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until cream is thickened and smooth. Keep refrigerated till needed. Place mascarpone mixture in a piping bag fitted with a star tip just before assembling.