Apple with Cream Puffs

Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours & 45 minutes
Servings: 8 - 9 puffs

These delightful apple cream puffs are crafted with choux au craquelin pastry, filled to the brim with a luscious cinnamon apple whipped cream. Each one is topped off with an adorable little white chocolate stem and leaf. Styled to resemble real apples, these cream puffs are painted a vibrant red, adding an extra touch of fun. The crunchy craquelin cookie topping not only helps them maintain their charming round shape but also provides a satisfying contrast to the creamy filling.

Why you'll love this recipe:
These apple cream puffs literally look like apples. They're so cute and unique!
The craquelin topping makes these choux lightly sweet and crunchy on the outside.
The cinnamon apple cream filling is so creamy and delicious! It adds all the Fall flavour to these cream puffs.

Ingredients:

Craquelin Cookie Topping:

70 g unsalted butter, softened
50 g granulated sugar
60 g all-purpose flour
red gel food colouring

Choux Pastry:

80 g unsalted butter
80 g water
800 g milk
red gel food colouring
70 g all-purpose flour
125 g whole eggs, whisked (about 2.5 large eggs)

Cinnamon Apple Whipped Cream:

2 medium apples, peeled and finely chopped
120 g brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch
700 g whipping cream

Chocolate Stems:

50 g white chocolate
brown & green gel food colouring

Directions:

Craquelin Cookie Topping:

In a small bowl, use a spatula to cream together softened butter, granulated sugar, and red gel food colouring until creamy and evenly coloured.
Mix in the flour until it becomes a smooth and soft dough.
Sandwich the dough in between two sheets of plastic wrap (or one sheet folded in half) and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about ⅛" thick. Fold over the remaining edges of plastic wrap and freeze until it becomes a solid and flat sheet, about 30 minutes.

Choux Pastry:

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small pot on medium heat, bring the butter, water, milk, and red gel food colouring to a simmer. It is at the right temperature when small bubbles start coming to the surface.
Add in all of the flour at once and quickly stir together until it becomes a soft dough.
Keep cooking the dough on medium heat for about 3-4 minutes to dry it out. Use a spatula to stir it around, break it apart, and reform it into a dough. It should look like dry mashed potatoes.
Let the dough cool in the pot or transfer to a bowl for faster cooling until warm to the touch.
Add the egg to the dough in three parts, stirring thoroughly after each addition until the egg has been “absorbed” by the dough. It might look like it’s curdling at first but just keep stirring.
The dough is right the right consistency when it’s smooth and glossy. Scoop up some dough with your spatula and let it drop back into the bowl. The dough should leave a V-shaped triangle of dough hanging off the spatula.
Use a 2” cookie scooper to scoop mounds of dough and place them on the lined baking sheet leaving at least (2inc) in between each mound.
Take the craquelin out of the freezer. Use a 2” round cutter to cut rounds out of the craquelin sheet. Place the rounds on top of each mound of choux dough.
Bake at 400°F for 5 minutes then turn down the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking for another 25-30 minutes until the walls are stiff. A few minutes before they’re finished baking, use a chopstick to poke a small hole in the top of each puff to let the steam out (this will also be the hole to insert the chocolate stems later). Let cool completely before filling.

Cinnamon Apple Whipped Cream:

In a small pot, stir together chopped apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Cover and bring to a boil on medium heat. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the juices are released from the apples.
Quickly stir in the cornstarch until the juices thicken into a jelly-like sauce consistency. If it's too dry, you can add a tablespoon or two of water. Transfer to a small bowl to cool completely either on the counter or in the fridge.
In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer or whisk to whip the cream until it thickens and becomes soft peaks.
Add the cooled apple compote to the whipped cream and use a spatula to fold together until thoroughly combined.
Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with a round tip that is big enough for the chopped apple pieces to pass through.
Use another piping tip or chopstick to poke a hole in the bottom of each choux puff. Insert the nozzle of the piping bag into the hole and pipe the cream into the pastry until you can feel the walls slightly expand and when you remove the piping tip, the filling should ooze back out slightly. Use a clean finger to wipe away any excess that comes out.

Chocolate Stems:

In a small pan or bowl, melt the white chocolate on the stovetop on low heat or in the microwave, heating in 15 second increments.
Divide the melted chocolate into two small bowls and add brown gel food colouring to one bowl and green gel food colouring to the other. Stir well to mix.
Transfer the chocolate into two tiny piping bags and cut off the tip of each bag.
Line a small cutting board with a sheet of wax paper. Use the brown chocolate to pipe straight lines about 2” long for the stems.
Use the green chocolate to pipe a round dollop about ⅓ from the end of each stem, right on top of the stem. With a small offset spatula, press down on the dollop to flatten and then gently pull away from the stem at an angle to smear the chocolate. Use the side of your finger to shape the smear into a point for the leaf.
Chill these stems in the fridge for about 15 minutes until hardened. Gently peel off them off the wax paper and insert into the holes on the top of each cream puffs where you poked them to release stem during baking.

Notes & Tips:

Red gel food colouring : Be sure to use gel colouring instead of liquid food colouring so that it doesn't change the consistency of your dough.
Eggs: Eggs vary in size so it's very important to weigh out your eggs to get the correct ratio. Crack three eggs into a bowl, whisk them, and then weigh out the exact amount into another bowl.
Apples: Use any tart apples. Peel and dice into pieces that are small enough to eventually fit through a small hole in the cream puff.

How do you keep choux au craquelin cream puffs crunchy:

To keep craquelin crunchy, make sure you bake the choux for enough time. They should be golden brown and the walls should be stiff straight out of the oven. Poke a hole in the choux a few minutes before they finish baking to let the steam out and dry out the inside walls of the puffs. Cream puffs should only be filled right before eating.

Storage:

These apple cream puffs are best enjoyed on the same day as you assemble them. The choux pastry becomes soft after the first day. Leftovers can be covered and stored in the fridge for 1-2 days but just keep in mind that the texture will change!
Unfilled choux can be covered and stored at room temperature overnight before filling the next day. Optionally, you can bake the shells again the next day to crisp them back up before adding the filling.