Recipes

Chocolate, Banana and Pecan Cream Puffs

Pastry Chef Patrice Demers knows how to create a dessert that shines! This delicious recipe is a real signature dish.

Serves:
6
Prep Time:
2 hours
Cook Time:
9 hours

Ingredients

Cream Puff Pastry

  • ½ cup ( 125 mL ) milk
  • ½ cup ( 125 mL ) water
  • 1 tsp ( 5 mL ) salt
  • 2 tsp ( 10 mL ) sugar
  • ½ cup ( 125 mL ) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 cup ( 250 mL ) all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs

Wafers

  • ½ cup ( 125 mL ) soft unsalted butter
  • ½ cup ( 125 mL ) brown sugar
  • ¾ cup ( 175 mL ) all-purpose flour

Milk Chocolate Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup ( 250 mL ) 35% whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp ( 15 mL ) transparent corn syrup
  • ¼ tsp ( 1.25 mL ) salt
  • ⅔ cup ( 170 mL ) milk chocolate pastilles (buttons) (approx. 40% cocoa content)

Banana Compote

  • 2 peeled and sliced bananas
  • 3 tbsp ( 45 mL ) brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp ( 15 mL ) lemon juice

Instructions

Cream Puff Pastry

  1. In a saucepan, bring milk, water, salt, sugar and butter to a boil. Remove saucepan from heat and add the flour all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until the mixture is smooth.

  2. Cook over low heat and keep stirring for 2 minutes in order to dry the batter. In other words, it should pull away from the sides of the pan.

  3. Let the batter stand for a bit and incorporate the eggs one at a time, using a wooden spoon, mixer or food processor to stir. 

  4. Use a piping bag with a plain tip to form puff pastry mounds about 4-5 cm in diameter and pipe onto a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. 

  5. The recipe will yield more than 6 puffs. However, it is difficult to achieve as good a result with a smaller recipe. We recommend freezing the excess puffs for another time. All you need to do is take them out of the freezer 30 minutes before serving and put them back into a 350° F (180° C) oven for 2 minutes.

Wafers

  1. In the mixer, use the dough hook to cream the butter and brown sugar well.

  2. Add the flour and mix just enough to form an even mixture.

  3. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of approximately 2 mm. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Cooking

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Use a round cookie cutter with a diameter slightly larger than the puffs to cut out circles and place one onto each puff pastry mound.

  2. Put puff pastry mounds in the oven and immediately lower the oven temperature to 375° F (190°C). Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350° F (180°C). Continue baking for another 15 minutes. 

  3. Remove puff pastry mounds from the oven when they are golden and crisp. Allow to cool.

Milk Chocolate Whipped Cream

  1. In a saucepan, bring the cream, corn syrup and salt to a boil. Remove from heat and pour in roughly half of the cream (enough to cover the chocolate pastilles, or buttons). Let stand for 30 seconds.

  2. Mix together well with a whisk. Add the remaining cream and mix thoroughly.

  3. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. 

  4. Before serving, beat the chocolate whipped cream until very soft peaks form. It is important not to over whip to avoid a gritty texture.

Banana Compote

  1. In a skillet, cook the bananas, brown sugar and lemon juice for 2 minutes on high heat. Remove from heat and let cool. 

Assembly

  1. Use a bread knife to cut the pastry puffs in half horizontally. Place a dollop of the banana compote onto bottom part of the puff pastry and sprinkle with 2-3 pecans per portion. Use a pastry bag outfitted with a fluted tip to decorate with the whipped cream. Cover with the top half of the puff pastry.