My love for matcha runs deep. Not only is a hot matcha latte my favorite way to start the day, but matcha makes for such a lovely addition to baked goods and sweets. When I flipped through the pages of my friend Sabine Venier’s debut cookbook “The Chocolate Addict’s Baking Book” for the first time, I was immediately drawn to her recipe for white chocolate-matcha cream puffs. Sabine was kind enough to let me share the recipe from her new cookbook with all of you!
WHITE CHOCOLATE & MATCHA: a perfect match
White chocolate and matcha are truly a match made in heaven. The earthy, grassy, and subtle savoriness of matcha perfectly complements and balances the flavor & sweetness of white chocolate. I have to tip my hat off to Sabine for dreaming up this flavor combination for a cream puff. Traditionally filled with whipped cream or cream patisserie & topped with melted chocolate, Sabine’s white-chocolate matcha cream puffs are a welcome twist to the beloved pastry.
TIPS FOR MAKING CREAM PUFFS
Cream puffs are one of my favorite treats to make. They seem much more complicated to make than they actually are. But choux pastry (“pâte à choux” in French) is actually very simple to pull together. And the finished baked puffs are so impressive! The key to successful choux pastry is to make sure that you monitor the texture of the choux as you mix in the egg.
Firstly, it’s important to only add as much egg as the dough will hold. Eggs vary in size, adding too much egg will leave the choux dough too wet and you’ll have trouble piping it. Which will yield pastries will have trouble puffing and drying out in the oven. Secondly, your choux dough should have a shiny and smooth surface and be firm enough to hold its shape. I found Sabine’s recipe for pâte à choux to be perfect with the “large eggs” that I used.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
If you’re not familiar with Sabine, she shares her love for baking and sweets on her blog Also The Crumbs Please. Her recipes are not only thoughtfully crafted, but her food photography is truly tantalizing. It is an honor to share her white chocolate-matcha cream puffs from her cookbook here on my blog. You can learn more about “The Chocolate Addict’s Baking Book” here.
WHITE CHOCOLATE-MATCHA CREAM PUFFS
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 26 to 28 cream puffs 1x
Ingredients
- *FOR THE FILLING
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1?3 cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- 1?4 cup (32 g) cornstarch
- 11?4 cups (300 ml) milk
- 3?4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 6 oz (170 g) bar-style white chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
- 1?8 tsp salt
- * FOR THE PÂTE À CHOUX
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 1?2 cup (113 g [1 stick]) unsalted butter
- 1 tsp sugar 1?2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (135 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 4 large eggs
- *FOR THE MATCHA GLAZE
- 2 cups (240 g) unpacked powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp matcha powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) hot water
Instructions
- *Make the filling:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, and cornstarch to combine and set aside.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the milk and cream to a simmer and
- cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Decrease the heat to low and whisk about 1?2 cup (120 ml) of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture to slowly temper it. Then, slowly whisk the tempered egg yolk mixture into the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, until the filling is thick, about 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, vanilla and salt until smooth and fully incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the filling through a mesh strainer into a medium bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent its forming a skin. Refrigerate the filling for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- *Make the pâte à choux:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, bring the water, butter, granulated sugar and salt to a boil. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the flour constantly as you cook the dough for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it starts to form a film on the bottom of the pan.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl and let cool for about 2 minutes. Still using the wooden spoon, stir in one egg at a time. You will notice that after every addition, the dough will separate. Keep stirring until the dough comes together again before you add the next egg. Repeat until all the eggs are incorporated. In the end, the dough will be sticky and firm enough to hold a stiff peak.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag and, spinning the piping tip as you go, pipe 11?2-inch (4-cm) circles onto the prepared baking sheets. If the paper is shifting, you can stick a bit of dough to the baking sheets underneath the parchment paper so that the paper doesn’t move as you pipe. Press down the tips of the dough with wet fingers to even them; otherwise, the tips may burn. Lightly brush the pâte à choux with egg wash. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 30 to 32 minutes, or until the pâte à choux is puffed and golden brown. Do not open the oven while baking, or the cream puffs will collapse.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on the pans to room temperature, about 1 hour.
- *Make the glaze:
- In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, matcha powder and vanilla to combine. Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of hot water at a time and whisk to combine. Stop adding water when the consistency is thick but liquid. If the glaze is too thick, there will be too much glaze on the cream puffs. On the other hand, if it is too thin, it will run down the cream puffs. Test the consistency down the sides of your bowl for clarity.
- Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Using the tip of a sharp knife, cut a little X into the bottom of each cream puff, then pipe the filling into the puffs. Dip the tops of the filled cream puffs into the glaze and place them on a wire rack to let dry.
- Store leftover cream puffs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- *note: The single teaspoon of matcha powder seems little, but the taste is very intense and adding more matcha would overpower the taste of the cream puffs. That said, you can adjust the amount of matcha powder to your taste.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
WOW! WOW! WOW! These look spectacular! My daughter comes home from college in a few weeks and I know she’d love to arrive home to a plate of these incredible treats!
Awwww! What a sweet welcome home that would be! Thank you Carolyn, for all of your love and support!
All I can say is Y-U-M-M-M
These were so amazing, the combo of matcha and white chocolate was literally perfection!!!
That makes me so happy! They are the dreamiest combo!