Happiness is a Cream Puff

Recently I started furthering my baking education by taking some informal classes with a certain talented pastry friend (whom I have been bugging to start her own baking studio - I am guessing I could easily round up a handful of Columbus foodies eager to learn!)

Happiness is a cream puff

At my first lesson, I learned how to make pate a choux (cabbage paste), pastry cream (delicious) and how to turn all that into cream puffs and eclairs! Pate a choux and pastry cream are quite versatile in the sense that you can make a huge assortment of desserts with them (in combination or separate). The yummy custard in a fruit tart? Pastry cream. Tasty custard in a trifle? Pastry cream too!

An assortment of cream puffs

Eclairs piped with a star-tip

Demo of how to fill puffs and eclairs with pastry cream through the bottom

I learned a lot of new things about eggs, flour, chocolate, milk, whisking, piping, weighing things and more, despite my recent reading of many, many cookbooks. Yes, professionals really do know more. Really cool stuff! I won't go into all the details because that would be giving all the fun away, but suffice it to say, it was an awesome, completely hands-on afternoon where I got to make the dough, the pastry cream, pipe the eclairs and puffs, fill them, and glaze them. I actually feel like I could attempt this at home now.

D was very happy to help me eat these little guys after class. Lucky man.