Cream Puffs

I had egg yolks left over from yesterday's Macaroons, so I started looking up recipes that use egg yolks. One of the top rated recipes was for pastry cream. *sigh* If you make pastry cream you can't NOT make eclairs or cream puffs or something. I really was too tired to make a trip to the store or make some complicated puff pastry recipe. I decided to look up a cream puff recipe and bookmark it for later. I had no idea that cream puff dough is so ridiculously simple! It made the macaroons look like hard work. I was quite a bit nervous that they wouldn't turn out, but they are puffy and creamy and taste just like something bought in a bakery. You have GOT to try this.

I've always loved cream puffs. Either the frozen ones from Sam's or especially if I can get them fresh from a bakery. I've been known to make myself sick on them, but not this time! This time I'm going to share.

Ingredients: yield ~ 25 large puffs

1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 batch pastry cream


Equipment:

Mixer with beater attachment (you could use a bowl and whisk, but whipping in lots of air is key)
Cookie sheets
Piping bag and filling tip
Toothpick

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425F
• Bring water & butter to a rolling boil
• Stir in flour & salt until it forms a ball

• Drop the dough ball into the mixer and start beating at medium speed
• Keep the mixer running while adding the eggs - beat until they are incorporated and the batter is smooth

• Drop tablespoonfuls onto the non-greased cookie sheets
• Bake for 20 minutes then use a toothpick to poke a hole in each one
• Turn off the oven and leave it cracked until the puffs are cool enough to handle

• Pipe pastry cream into the bottom of each puff
• Serve warm or chilled according to your preference 

Tips & Variations:

• If you don't have a piping bag/tip, you can slice each one in half and fill with the cream
• Try a different filling, such as whipped cream, chocolate pudding, etc.
• When piping the filling, hold the puff in your opposite hand upside-down - you'll be able to feel it start to expand as a guide to knowing when you've filled it enough
• Try adding fruit or dusting with sugar or topping with chocolate

Cost:

Pastry Cream	1.30
Butter	0.66
Flour	0.15
eggs	0.50
	2.61	10 c each

Fluffy Macaroons

Mmmm....I love coconut! I've made macaroons before, but never with an egg white base. These are fantastic! Light and chewy and ever so slightly sweet. This recipe was also incredibly easy and nearly fool-proof.

Ingredients: yield ~ 40 macaroons


14 oz bag of sweetened coconut
4 egg whites
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract

Equipment:

Baking sheets
Mixer with whisk attachment


Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375F and lightly grease the cookie sheets

• Whisk the egg whites and salt at high speed until soft peaks form
• Slowly add the sugar and extract (with the mixer still at high speed) until you get glossy stiff peaks

• Fold in the coconut

• Drop spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart, although they shouldn't spread
• Bake for about 12 minutes or until just golden on top

Cost:

Coconut	1.80
Eggs	0.50
Sugar	0.10
Salt/Almond flavoring	0.05
	2.45	6 cents

Sweet Potato Dumplings

The final picture is not the prettiest. The colors clash and, well, don't look very appetizing. But if you can look past this and give it a taste....ohhh. It's such warm, hearty, creamy comfort food. I've adapted the recipe from allrecipes, mainly because the original makes such a wet sticky batter, it's nearly impossible to work with. It's supposed to make a nice dough that you can roll out, and cut into little pieces to make gnocchi. I've not had any success with this, and the mixer unfortunately didn't magically fix the stickiness. You can just as easily drop spoonfuls of the batter into boiling water and accomplish basically the same result. Simply watch out for overcrowding in the pot so that the end result is individual bite-sized or smaller dumplings.

Ingredients: yield 3-4 servings


Dumplings:

2 cooked sweet potatoes (I like to boil because the skin falls right off. Baking also works well with a drier result)
1 egg
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup parmesan


Balsamic Cream sauce:

1/4 cup of cream or cream cheese (I used Philadelphia's Cooking Creme - garlic...fantastic!)
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Equipment:

Mixer with beater attachment or bowl & spoon
A potato ricer makes a smoother consistency but isn't at all necessary
LARGE pot for boiling - the bigger the better


Directions:

• Mash the potatoes into the large mixing bowl.

• Blend in all the ingredients but the flour

  

• Slowly mix in the flour until you've achieved a dough that sticks to itself more than anything else
• Set a large pot of lightly salted water to boil

• Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the boiling water. *don't overcrowd!*

•  Dumplings are cooked when they start to float.

• To make the cream sauce simply mix all the ingredients over high heat, until warm and smooth.
• Serve hot.

Cost:

Sweet Potatoes	1.50
Flour	0.50
Egg	0.12
Salt/Garlic/etc	0.10
Parmesan	0.15
	2.37
Parmesan	0.20
Cream Cheese	0.88
Balsamic	0.15
	1.23

Cheese Fingers - Possible Addiction Warning

WARNING: Margaret V and Mix for Six blog cannot be held responsible for any obsessions or weight-gain caused by reading/making this recipe.

I really do feel the above warning is necessary. Within 5 hours of making these cheesy fingers I'd consumed 17 of them!!!!!!! And I had to FORCE myself to not eat the last 3. Interestingly the 2 year old who loves bread and loves cheese couldn't stand the texture. I didn't notice anything texturally odd, but this may have been due to the fact that I was inhaling them. Recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients: yield ~ 24

1 cup flour
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
6 oz melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 water
dash garlic powder
dash Worcestershire pepper


Equipment:

Bowl & Spoon or Mixer w/ beater
Cookie tray
Clean, lightly floured surface


Directions:

• Thoroughly mix all ingredients except the water

 

• Slowly add water until a soft dough forms (it only took 3 tablespoons for me)

• Tear off chunks of dough and roll into finger sized lengths

• Bake @ 400F for 10-15 minutes until golden
• Give away as many as you can before you taste one....because you may not be able to stop yourself! 

 
 
 
 
 Cost: - PRICELESS! (kidding....mostly)

Flour	0.15
Cheese	1.00
Butter	0.50
Spices,etc	0.10
	1.75