Choux with Durian Filling

Was captivated by the puffy choux that Sonia shared on her blog, and it was oozing with durian pulp mixed with whipped cream.
The bonus was the topping called "Craquelin" - pronounciation in French as "kat-ker-leng". My first time coming across this interesting thin layer of brown sugar crumbs made up of butter, brown sugar and all purpose flour. Simple ingredients, but amazing results as it gave the choux a crispy crunch when consumed warm. It was also very fragrant as I was picking up the bit and pieces of crumbs that dropped off as I was making a slit in the choux for the durian filling.

I did half portion of the recipe and got 14 pieces, which was more than sufficient for the both of us at home. And luckily it was that quantity because it was very difficult to stop popping this Choux with Durian Filling one by one into the mouth until it was all gone.

For the detailed steps, kindly refer to Sonia's blog as she did a superb write-up sharing the recipe generously. Thanks Sonia.

CHOUX PASTRY
Source: Nasi Lemak Lover
Yield: 14 pieces
Ingredients:
60g milk
60g water
60g salted butter
2.5g sugar
125g eggs (2 A-size eggs, stirred lightly)
80g all purpose flour (sifted)

Method:
1/ Boil milk, water, butter and sugar together in a pot over medium heat.
2/ Remove pot from heat and using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in the flour until mixture combines into a ball.
3/ Return pot to low heat, stir content constantly until mixture leaves the sides of the pot and a film forms on the bottom of the pot, approximately 3-4 minutes.
4/ Transfer dough into a mixing bowl and stir till it reaches room temperature, then gradually add in the egg and mix till desired texture. [to check: scoop mixture up using wooden spoon, batter should hang down for about 20 seconds before dropping down].
5/ Fit batter into piping bag with a 1 cm piping tip and pipe with onto baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper with allowance of 2"-3" gap in between each mound.
6/ Top each piece of choux pastry with a small piece of Craquelin.
7/ Bake in preheated oven at 190 degree Celcius for 20 minutes without opening the oven door until choux pastry is all puffed up and browned.
8/ Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

CRAQUELIN
Ingredients:
35g butter
35g soft brown sugar
45g all purpose flour (sifted)

Method:
1/ Cream butter and brown sugar till light and creamy, then add in sifted flour to combine.
2/ Place Craquelin in between two plastic sheets and flatten into a thin sheet of 1-2mm. **
3/ Keep this in the fridge to harden.
4/ Remove from fridge when choux is all piped out and cut Craquelin into small square.
5/ Using a plastic spatula, transfer the delicate piece of Craquelin atop each mound of choux.

Note: I changed the method slightly from that of Sonia's in step 2 because I find the Craquelin hardens faster when it is a thin layer compared to one whole chunk.

DURIAN FILLING
Ingredients:
70g non-dairy whipping cream
150g durian flesh (stir well with fork to break up the fiber and turn durian mushy yet creamy)

Method:
1/ Whip non-dairy whipping cream over high speed till it peaks, then add in durian flesh and mix well.
2/ Keep this chilled in the fridge before using.


Paired with a cuppa of "durian" coffee, would you like any?


The variety of durian I used, for reference - Buaya Mas at RM8. I anyhow picked up a box because there were just too many varieties on the shelf. It was not too sweet but very fragrant, though with a slight bitter end-note which was my preference as we would be savouring the balance of durian not used in the choux, thus I went with our liking.