Koala Black Sesame Custard Cream Puffs

And the journey for Creative Choux pastries continues! I actually have a backlog of Choux pastry posts that I can't wait to share but will release slowly over time. Checkout my Instagram account if you would like a sneak peek of what other creative choux pastry designs I have come up with. For now, let me share this koala black sesame custard cream puffs!

Black sesame Choux pastry case with black sesame white chocolate on top and smooth black sesame custard in the middle!

I love the close up view of the cross section!

I was still trying out different recipes for Choux cases until I found this one. I think I am going to stick with it! It is the puffiest and nicest in texture so far. Please refer to this excellent blog post on making Choux pastry (eclairs) and the various tips for techniques. I didn't follow the ingredients exactly but followed the technique pretty much closely.

Many thanks to Susanne for gifting me with a packet of black sesame powder that I could use!

Recipe for black sesame pastry cream
Ingredients:
400g milk
70g sugar
36g cornflour
30g black sesame powder (use more, up to 20g more if you prefer stronger black sesame flavour as mine is quite mild. )
4 egg yolks
20g unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla bean paste/ extract

Steps:
1. Sift cornflour into a medium sized bowl and whisk in black sesame powder and sugar. Add in egg yolks and whisk until a paste forms. Set aside.

2. Heat milk with vanilla in a saucepan until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat and slowly pour into egg mixture while whisking constantly.

3. Pour mixture back into saucepan. Heat on medium low heat while whisking constantly. Once mixture starts to thicken, remove from heat and keep whisking until mixture is smooth. This is to prevent lumps from forming in the custard. Return the saucepan back to heat and keep whisking until custard has desired consistency of curd. Remove from heat and whisk as and when it is necessary and you see lumps starting to form.

4. Remove from heat. Add butter and mix well. Pour custard through a sieve into a bowl. Press a cling wrap over the surface to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate until ready to fill the Choux cases. You may make this up to a few days ahead of time.

I made matcha custard as well!

Recipe for black sesame Choux pastry case
Ingredients (makes about 14 koalas):
75g water
75g milk
75g butter
5g sugar
5g salt
90g bread flour
10g plain flour
10g black sesame powder (omit for plain choux cases)
150g eggs (approximately 3, lightly beaten)

Note: you may replace all plain flour with bread flour, or some bread flour with plain flour. Plain flour gives the pastry a more tender bite whereas bread flour helps to give more strength to the structure and makes it more crispy

Steps:
1. Sift together plain and bread flour into a bowl. Preheat oven to 180℃ and set oven rack to middle position

2. Place water, milk, sugar, salt and butter into a saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring. Remove from heat and pour the flour in all at once. Mix well to make sure all the flour absorb the liquid.

3. Return the dough to cook over medium low heat for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and continue to knead the dough with a spatula in a bowl to let it cool for a couple of minutes.

4. Gradually add beaten egg and mix well after each addition. The batter is ready when it appears shiny and yet leaves a trough that doesn't collapse when you run a finger across the batter surface.

5. Transfer into piping bag fitted with a Wilton #12 (or larger) tip. Pipe a circle for the head, and then two dollops at each side of the circle for the ears. Tap down any peaks with a wet finger to prevent it from burning in the oven.

I was working on another Matcha Choux at the same time so stay tuned!

6. Bake at 180℃ for 20 min. Reduce temperature to 160℃ and bake for another 20 min. Turn off the heat and let it cool for 10 min in the oven. You may sprinkle a little water around the piped batter before baking to help the pastry to rise more in the oven. Pierce the side with toothpick to release any steam. Cool completely on cooling rack. Note that baking temperature and time is dependent on individual ovens. Extend baking time if need be to thoroughly dry out the cases.

Freshly baked Choux case

Recipe for black sesame white chocolate
Ingredients:
160g white compound chocolate chips
10g vegetable shortening
10g black sesame powder
1/8 tsp salt

Steps:
1. Place chocolate and shortening in microwave safe bowl. Heat for 20sec on medium power. Stir with spatula. Repeat until melted.

2. Add black sesame and salt and mix well.

3. Transfer to piping bag and pipe on the Choux cases. Decorate as you wish with melted dark chocolate for the eyes and nose, and pink coloured white chocolate for rosy cheeks.

To fill the Choux cases, make a hole at the side or bottom such that a piping tip can fit into the hole. Fill piping bag fitted with piping tip with pastry cream. Fill the cases. Be careful not to overfill or the cream may burst out of the case, but fill enough so that it's yummy. Best to fill the cases just before consumption. Store any filled pastry into the fridge and finish eating the next day.

With love,
Phay Shing