Vanilla Bean Pastries with Blueberry Cream

Vanilla Bean Choux Pastries with Blueberry Cream (Cream Puffs)

(Makes about 16 puffs)

Vanilla Bean Pate a Choux:

¾ cup water

5 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped

¾ cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

Blueberry Cream:

2 tablespoons water

¼ cup blueberries, frozen or fresh

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold

¼ brown sugar

Berries and fruit, as garnish

Powdered sugar

Make the Pate a Choux (Cream Puff Dough)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a small saucepan, bring the water, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil. Reduce heat and add the entire vanilla bean pod along with the scraped seeds. Cook for 2 minutes to extract more flavor from the pod. Remove the pod and add all the flour at once and stir until dough forms that easily pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat.

Add the Eggs

One at a time, add the eggs to the dough, stirring with a wooden spoon until each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. The finished dough should be glossy and smooth. Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch wide-mouth tip of your choice. Pipe 1½-inch shapes onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. (I like to use a Silpat sheet for this step because it doesn’t lift off of the pan when I pipe the dough onto it.) Transfer to the oven and bake until puffy and golden brown, about 30 minutes. The timing might vary depending on size and actual temperature of your oven, so just keep an eye on them after the 25-minute mark. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before filling.

Make the Blueberry Puree

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, cook water, blueberries and brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Whip the Cream

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream and brown sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. Do not overwhip or you’ll end up with butter, no joke. You know when you have stiff peaks when you invert the whisk attachment and the whipped cream stays standing up. Gently fold in the cooled blueberry puree until just combined. You can you either transfer the blueberry cream into a piping bag fitted with a fun piping tip or simply spoon the cream into the puffs.

Fill the Puffs

Cut the choux puffs in half lengthwise and fill with a couple tablespoons of the blueberry cream. Dust with powdered sugar and serve alongside fresh berries or fruit.