I was given two bottles of Hazella, a chocolate hazelnut spread, by Phoon Huat (Redman) to try. I decided to share something cute, yummy, simple and uses minimal ingredients. Here are some chocolate hazelnut bears in panda suits!
There is no added artificial colouring too! I shared the recipe and decorating steps in my Instagram reels where you can see how I created the panda cap and bear filling. As mentioned in my caption with the reel I recommend watching my youtube videos for choux pastry technique if you are new to making choux pastries as it is a bake that requires some attention to detail and knowing how to work with your oven as well, but much as it is easier than macarons or chiffon cakes.
Chapter 7 about craquelin, chapter 8 about choux batter preparation and chapter 9 about piping and baking choux au craquelin.
Chocolate Hazelnut Choux Pastry Bears
(makes about 15 small pastries)
Please scale quantity according to preference as this is a small batch.
Choux pastry:
Craquelin:
21g unsalted butter
18g sugar
21g plain flour, sifted
Batter:
60g water
20g unsalted butter
1/8 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp sugar
30g plain flour, sifted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Bear filling:
200-250g whipping cream of choice*
250g Hazella (or any chocolate hazelnut spread)
Decoration:
Mini chocolate chips
Mini chocolate Crispearls (optional, for bear's nose)
*I used non-dairy cream that's pre-sweetened, stable in hot Singapore & impossible to over whip. Please use an electric mixer to whip the Whip Topping. Be careful not to over whip dairy cream if that is what you choose.
1. Make craquelin. Mix sugar & butter briefly. Add flour & form a dough. Roll until 2-3mm thick. Freeze until firm. Cut out 3cm circles & freeze until needed.
2. Preheat oven to 180C(fan)/190C. Line tray with perforated mat or baking paper.
3. Make batter. Place water, butter, salt & sugar in small pan. Bring to boil. Pour flour in & mix until dough forms. Cook over med-low heat to evaporate some water. Cool briefly in bowl. Add egg gradually until batter is able to hold a long "V" on spatula.
4. Transfer into piping bag with round tip. Pipe generous mounds about 2.3cm at the base. Place craquelin on top. Bake for 20 min. Reduce temperature to 140C(fan)/150C & bake for 25 min until thoroughly dry inside.
5. Cool completely. Cut off the top of pastry & decorate with mini chocolate chips/melted chocolate for panda.
6. Whip cream until stiff. Mix 100-150g cream with 250g Hazella. Adjust ratio according to taste. Pipe bear with creams. Use melted chocolate & Crispearls to decorate. Assemble panda hat & refrigerate or freeze (Ice-cream version😋!)
A note about using melted chocolate for decoration. Please melt it using low heat and be careful not to overheat. You may use microwave or double-boiling to melt chocolate. Add a little shortening/butter/oil to make the consistency a little runnier for ease of painting/piping the features. It also helps prevent the chocolate from setting too fast. Adding a fat is optional but I find it helps to make it significantly easier to work with.
Besides using Hazella as a toast spread, why not try this as a simple two-ingredient chocolate hazelnut ice-cream! You may consume the creampuffs refrigerated or frozen (my preference!). I was honestly rushing when I took the photos and videos, hoping that I could still make use of some natural sunlight. This forced me to keep everything as simple as possible. So feel free to add Biscoff spread (crunchy one please😋) or Fererro Rocher to add even more dimension to you pastries!
with love,
Phay Shing
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