Cream puffs

I used the recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, 1500 recipes for the way you cook today.

Puffs:

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

1 cup water

1 cup all purpose flour

4 eggs

Cream filling:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

Powdered sugar, optional

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and water until it boils.

Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and stir in the flour. Beat vigorously until the mixture forms a ball.

Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously after each addition. I highly recommend using an electric mixer because it's so much easier than doing it by hand.

It should be pretty creamy. Then place them by less than 1/4 cupfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Stick them into the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until puffed and golden. 

Remove them from the baking sheet to a cooling rack. Prick each puff with a sharp knife to release steam.

Now for the cream. In a small saucepan, add the sugar and cornstarch and while whisking, slowly add the milk. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and boils. This took me about 15 minutes. 

Once it thickens, gradually stir in half the hot mixture into the egg yolks. This is an important step because you don't want scrambled eggs, and this tempers the eggs. Once done, stir the mixture back into the saucepan. Stir in the butter and vanilla.

Transfer to a bowl.

Press plastic wrap over the filling so it touches it to prevent a tough layer from forming. Stick it in the fridge and keep it in there at least 1 hour.

And voila! We're finished. :)

To serve, cut the puff in half and scoop out some of the dough. Fill it in with the delicious cream!

Enjoy!

Tiramisu

I used Crouton Crackerjack's recipe for this tiramisu, and it turned out GREAT!
*I made half the recipe

6 ounces boiling water

2 teaspoons instant espresso

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream

8 ounces (1 tub) mascarpone cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 packages lady fingers

unsweetened coca powder

Before you start anything, mix together the boiling water and instant espresso. I used instant coffee and added a teaspoon or so of sugar because it was too bitter for me.

Next, we're going to make a double boiler. Add an inch or two of water to a pot. Place a bowl on top of the pot and if it touches the water, spill some out. The water cannot touch the bowl.

The whole time you're using the double boiler, the water should be simmering. You need that steam!

While the water is boiling, add your sugar and eggs to a glass or metal bowl.

Now place it on top of your pot with simmering water.

And stir away! You need to stir this for 8-10 minutes. Yes it'll take a while, but it's so worth it.

About halfway through add the milk. And keep on stirring!

When the times up, the mixture should be pale and thick. Now take it off the heat and transfer it to a different bowl. You need to do that because the bowl will still be hot and we need the mixture to cool down.

Now we need to get our heavy cream thickened. Since everything is supposed to be as cold as possible, I put my bowl and mixers into the fridge. I do not recommend using a metal bowl because mine got warm the minute I took it out. It's best to use a glass bowl for this.

Measure out the heavy cream and whip until you get stiff peaks. Don't over whip or else you'll get butter!

Here's a closer look.

The heavy cream is sticking up and not falling over.

Put that to the side for now and add the marscapone cheese to your cooled egg mixture. For 8 ounces, it cost me $3.98.

Make sure the marscapone is at room temperature so you can mix it in easier.

Once that's done, add your heavy cream. You MUST fold it in carefully or else it'll deflate.

Now prepare a dish for layering everything up.

I bought a 7 ounce package of lady fingers and I had around 6 remaining at the end.

To get the fingers nice and soft, dip them into your espresso. It'll take 2-3 seconds, if that, because they soak it up FAST! So just don't hold them in there too long.

Then place them into your dish until the entire bottom layer is full.

Put half of the cream on top and repeat the process once more.

For the finishing touch, dust it with some cocoa powder and put it into the fridge for 8 hours, or overnight. 

Enjoy! :)

Leave a comment below if you tried the recipe!

Meringue

Meringue

3 eggs whites, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

The most important thing for this recipe is to use CLEAN bowls and spatulas. If you have one bit of grease on your bowl or mixing utensils, then the eggs whites will NOT get fluffy at all and the whole mixture is ruined.

So to start off with, separate your egg whites from the egg yolks. Put the yolks back in the fridge and save them for something else. Let the egg whites sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Also another VERY important step is to not get A.N.Y egg yolk in your egg whites. That will completely ruin your batter and it wont bake at all!

After 30 minutes, add your cream of tartar, which helps stabilize the eggs whites and keeps them white.

Measure out your sugar and keep it ready, along with a spoon.

At this point, go ahead and preheat your oven to 250 F.

Now, mix your egg whites until it gets to the frothy stage. This will take a minute or so.

After that, SLOWLY start adding your sugar. One tablespoon at a time. Whatever you do, do not add all the sugar at once.

Once that's finished, let the mixer go until you reach stiff peaks.

Mine didn't get as stiff as I wanted it to, but that's okay.

Next, prepare your piping bag. I put mine in a cup so I could just plop the batter in. If you want, you can put in a tip, like a star tip, to get a small design on the meringues.

After you fill the bag up, cut a hole on the bottom, however big you want it, and pipe away! 

I just made circles, but you can make all sorts of different designs. Also, it's best to use parchment paper for this, but I didn't have any on hand. Put in in the oven for exactly one hour.

I was so ready to try some that I almost forgot to take a picture. They stuck just a tad bit to the pan, but I used a metal spatula to get them off and they didn't break.

Enjoy!! :)