Vanilla, Caramel and Pecan Cream Puffs

Toast the nuts in a preheated oven at 150°C / 300°F for about ten minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool then rub to remove the skins.

Roughly chop the nuts (not too finely).

Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook to 118°C / 244°F. Check the temperature with a thermometer. If you don’t have one, look for small bubbles forming.

Off the heat, pour the chopped nuts into the sugar syrup and stir well until they are coated in a kind of white sandy coating.

Return the saucepan to a medium heat. Stir constantly once the sugar starts to dissolve. The nuts will caramelise gradually (be careful not to burn them).

Once golden, add the butter and fleur de sel and mix well. Turn out onto a surface lined with baking paper or a silicone mat.

Leave to cool and store in a dry place.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and fleur de sel, then add the softened butter and knead for a few minutes until you obtain a smooth dough.

Roll the dough out to 3 mm thickness between 2 sheets of baking paper.

Cut out discs to match the diameter of your choux (slightly larger if you want the craquelin to cover the whole choux, or slightly smaller for it to reach only halfway up. You can use a round cutter, a nozzle…)

Set aside in the freezer.

In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, salt, sugar and butter and bring slowly to the boil.

Off the heat, add the sifted flour all at once. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Return to the heat for 30 seconds to dry out the dough (until it just starts to catch on the bottom of the pan).

Remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Run the mixer for a few minutes to cool the panade (the name given to the choux pastry at this stage).

Beat the whole eggs together (this makes it easier to add them gradually).

Add the eggs gradually. The dough should be neither too thick nor too runny, and should form a ribbon. A line drawn with your finger in the dough should close back slowly. You now have 2 options: either pipe the choux pastry immediately using a piping bag fitted with a 10 mm nozzle, or fill a demi-sphere mould to freeze it. I use the second method, which is practical both for planning ahead and for ensuring all choux are the same size. Place the choux pastry in a piping bag without a nozzle and fill 4 cm (1.6 in) diameter demi-sphere moulds. Smooth with a spatula, place a sheet of cling film on top and freeze until the domes are completely hard and easy to unmould (you can even do this a few days in advance).

Arrange the choux on a baking sheet lined with baking paper then place a frozen craquelin disc on top of each one.

Leave the choux to thaw for about thirty minutes at room temperature. It is perfectly possible to put the choux straight into the oven from frozen, but I noticed that the craquelin tends to slip off the frozen choux. I now prefer to let them thaw for about thirty minutes, just long enough for the craquelin to stick to the choux. Preheat the oven to 240°C / 465°F on conventional (static) heat.

Put in the oven then immediately lower the temperature to 170°C / 340°F. Bake for about forty minutes. Do not open the oven door at any point, to prevent the choux from collapsing.

Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool at room temperature.

Break the white chocolate into pieces in a bowl and melt in a bain-marie or in the microwave.

In a small saucepan, heat the 50 g (1.8 oz) of cream with the salted butter caramel.

As soon as the cream simmers, pour a third over the chocolate and mix with a spatula to create an emulsion. Then add a second third, then a third, until you obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.

Add the 150 g (5.3 oz) of cold whipping cream and mix with a spatula. Blend for a few seconds with a hand blender to fully homogenise.

Blend with a hand blender, cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface and set aside in the fridge overnight.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.

Add the cornflour and mix.

Bring the milk and scraped vanilla pod to the boil in a large saucepan. Pour a little of the hot milk into the bowl in a steady stream, whisking constantly, to loosen the cream, then pour everything back into the saucepan containing the remaining hot milk.

Whisk over a medium heat until the cream thickens.

Pour into a bowl and add the butter cut into pieces. Whisk vigorously until the butter melts then cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface.

Leave to cool at room temperature first, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Place the mixing bowl and electric whisk attachments in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

Pour the cream and mascarpone into the bowl and begin whisking at medium speed, then, once the cream starts to firm up a little, increase the speed.

Add the icing sugar and vanilla when the cream is almost whipped.

Place in a piping bag and set aside in the fridge until assembly.

Whip the caramel ganache like a chantilly (but not too firm) and place in a piping bag.

Once the crème pâtissière has cooled, use an electric whisk to smooth it then transfer to a piping bag.

Snip the tips of the 2 piping bags (vanilla chantilly and caramel whipped ganache) at the same level, then insert both bags into a third piping bag fitted with a star nozzle (PF14). Push out a little cream to see the 2 creams emerging together.

Carefully slice each choux in half horizontally with a serrated knife.

Pipe vanilla crème pâtissière into the base of each choux.

Add a few caramelised pecans then carefully pipe the bicolour cream to create a beautiful swirl.

Dust with a little icing sugar and set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.