Mirage Recipe
Prep: 4 hours 20 minutes (includes chilling)
Cook: 35 minutes
Serves: 28 cream puffs
These Chocolate Caramel Cream Puffs bring some sweetness to your day, no matter the occasion. Each bite of these mini desserts offers a delicious contrast of textures and flavours. The light, airy pastry gives way to a smooth whipped caramel chocolate ganache, adding a rich finishing touch to tie the two textures together beautifully. The combination is indulgent without feeling too heavy, making these cream puffs hard to resist. Sweet, creamy, and filled with silky chocolate-caramel goodness, these cream puffs will help you savour any moment.
For more sweet baking inspiration, visit @mirage_margarine on Instagram.
Ingredients
Cream Puffs
3/4 cup
all-purpose flour
3/4 cup
bread flour
2 tsp
cocoa powder
3/4 cup
water
1/3 cup
milk
2/3 cup
Mirage Margarine
1 tbsp
sugar
4 large
eggs
Whipped Caramel Chocolate Ganache
1 cup
dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup
sugar
1 1/2 cup
heavy cream, warmed
2 tsp
vanilla extract
1/2 tsp
salt
Directions
Cream Puffs
Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, and cocoa powder until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine water, milk, Mirage Margarine and sugar. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and add in the flour mixture. Stir quickly with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a dough and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan; about 2 to 3 minutes.
Place onto medium-low heat and keep stirring until mixture begins to leave a light film on the bottom (or sides of the pan), forms a ball, and dries out a bit; about 2 minutes.
Transfer dough into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix the dough on low speed until it’s about room temperature; the dough should still be warm, but not hot.
Increase speed to medium. Add in the eggs, one at a time, ensuring that each egg is incorporated into the dough before adding in another. Dough should be thick, shiny and smooth.
Transfer the choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
Pipe about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inch rounds spaced about 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
Place into the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until choux rounds have risen and are lightly browned.
When the cream puffs come out of the oven, immediately poke a hole in the bottom or side with a skewer to release the steam and place them back into the oven to dry with the oven door slightly ajar; 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Whipped Caramel Chocolate Ganache
Place the dark chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Set aside.
In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot, spread the sugar. Place over medium heat and allow the sugar to melt. Stir every so often to caramelize the sugar crystals evenly. Once the caramel is a deep amber colour, slowly pour in the warm cream. Be careful, as the sugar will splatter.
Continue to pour in the warm cream, while stirring, until all of it is in the pot. Keep pot on the heat and stir until caramel has melted.
Pour the hot caramel cream over the chocolate chips. After a minute, slowly stir the cream into the chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted and thoroughly combined with the cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Place a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the ganache. Place into the fridge to chill; at least 4 hours (preferably overnight).
Take the chilled caramel chocolate ganache out of the fridge, and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. With a handheld mixer (or transfer contents to the bowl of a stand mixer, with the whisk attachment) whip the ganache until it’s light in colour. Fill a piping bag, fitted with a star-shaped piping tip, with the whipped caramel chocolate cream. Set aside.
Cut each cream puff in half with a sharp serrated knife. Pipe about a spoonful of the filling onto the bottom of each puff. Place the top of the cream puff onto the cream. Leave as is, or dust lightly with cocoa powder or icing sugar.
