Caramel Swirl Cream Puffs Food

CARAMEL CREAM PUFFS WITH CRAQUELIN

Steps:

• Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for your filling.
• For the craquelin: Add the butter and sugar to a second stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until combined. Add the flour and beat to combine. Stir in a few drops of food coloring of choice and beat until uniform in color. Scoop the paste out onto a sheet of parchment paper with a rubber spatula. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and use your hands to press out into an even sheet. Then roll gently a few times with a rolling pin to flatten to an even 1/8-inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes. When the craquelin is frozen, remove it from the freezer. Peel the top piece of parchment off and cut rounds with a 2-inch round cutter.
• For the choux dough: Combine the butter, sugar, salt and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Once the butter has melted, bring it to a boil over medium heat. As soon as it boils, remove the pan from the heat and sift the flour directly into the pan. Stir the batter into a paste with a wooden spoon; you will have to beat it hard. Return the pan to medium heat. Stir the batter continuously until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the batter to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until slightly cooled, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one thoroughly before adding the next.
• Fit a large pastry bag with tip #808 and fill with the choux dough. Pipe twelve 2-inch circular mounds, about 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheet. If the batter has a peak, dab it smooth with a wet fingertip.
• Beat the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water and brush the surface of the puffs with the beaten yolk. Using a small offset spatula, gently lift the craqulin rounds off the parchment and place on top of the cream puffs. Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and continue baking until the puffs are golden brown, light, airy and crisp, 30 to 35 minutes more. If the cream puffs still don't feel completely dry and crisp at the end of the baking time, poke a hole in the bottom with a paring knife and place them back into the oven for a few more minutes to crisp up. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the filling: Remove the stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment from the freezer. Add the cream cheese and sugar to the bowl and beat on high speed until completely combined. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix on low speed until mostly combined. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form. Add the dulce de leche (or your flavoring of choice) and beat until stiff peaks form. If you would like to tint your cream filling, add a few drops of food coloring at this point.
• To assemble: Cut the puffs in half with a serrated knife and set the tops aside. (If the puffs are very moist inside, scoop out the excess dough and re-crisp them in a 350 degree F oven for about 5 minutes. Cool completely before continuing.) Pipe with an open star tip or spoon the whipped cream filling into the bottom halves of the cream puffs. Replace the puff tops. Pipe a small star or dollop of whipped cream on top and decorate as desired with berries or melted chocolate.

CARAMEL TOPPED CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• Make the cream puffs: Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Combine the water, butter, salt, and granulated sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat.
• Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes to evaporate some of the moisture.
• Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, and adding 1 egg at a time, add 3 of the eggs, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add another egg, and mix until completely incorporated. Grease and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Using the pastry bag, pipe the dough in bite-size "kisses" (about 1 1/2 inches across) onto a cookie sheets.
• Dip your finger in flour and push down the points to smooth out any bumps. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet.
• To make the caramel, pour the 1 1/4 cups sugar into the center of a deep saucepan. Carefully pour the water around the sugar, trying not to splash any sugar onto the sides of the pan. Do not stir; gently draw your finger through the center of the sugar to moisten it. Over high heat, bring to a full boil and cook without stirring, swirling the pot occasionally to even out the color, until amber-caramel in color, 10 to 20 minutes. When the mixture is done, remove the pot from the heat, and rest the bottom in the ice bath for 15 seconds to stop the cooking.
• Dip the top of each cream puff in the caramel and place it caramel-side down, with the base sticking straight up, on the other greased cookie sheet. The caramel will pool slightly around the puff and will harden and develop a foot. (When you turn the puffs over later, this will be a smooth, flat "lid" for each profiterole.) Let cool until set, at least 10 minutes.
• When ready to serve, carefully turn the puffs over and cut each one horizontally in half using a long serrated knife. Fill each with a small scoop of ice cream or sweetened flavored whipped cream. Place the lid on top and serve immediately.

CARAMEL PUFFS

Steps:

• Dip marshmallows halfway into the warm caramel. Let the excess drip off, then dip in crushed pretzels and place on a lightly oiled parchment-lined baking sheet until set. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

CARAMEL BALSAMIC SWIRL ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Warm half of the cream with the scraped vanilla bean in a small saucepan on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Keep aside.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar in a bowl until the color becomes light and pale, about 2 minutes. Remove the vanilla pod and pour the warm cream over the egg mixture while constantly stirring. Reheat the mixture on low heat stirring constantly until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan on medium heat, reduce by half the balsamic vinegar, about 10 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature.
• Once your custard is cool, whip the remaining cream and fold it in with the custard mixture using a wooden spoon. Add the olive oil and fold in everything together. Drizzle 3/4 of the reduced balsamic vinegar in the cream mixture and use a fork to make swirl patterns. Pour the mixture in a stainless steel container and drizzle the leftover of the balsamic on top.
• Put in the freezer until firm, a minimum of 4 hours
• For the serving: Scoop into nice bowls and serve with fresh berries.

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL PUFFS

Steps:

• Make the puffs: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a sifter, combine the flour and cocoa powder. Sift onto a large piece of waxed paper and set aside until needed.
• Heat the water, 4 tablespoons butter, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sifted dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to stir until the mixture comes together in a ball-like shape (it should be a bit like putty at this point). Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring energetically and thoroughly incorporating each egg before adding another. Divide the dough in level tablespoons (approximately 1/2-ounce per puff) onto 2 nonstick baking sheets, 12 evenly spaced portions per sheet. Place the baking sheets on the top and center racks of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to center halfway through the baking time (at that time also turn each sheet 180 degrees). Remove the puffs from the oven and cool to room temperature.
• Make the Chocolate Caramel Ganache: Place the chopped semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in a 4-quart bowl and set aside. Heat the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons butter in a 1 1/2 quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to keep the cream hot, but not simmering until needed. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and the lemon juice in a 3-quart saucepan. Stir with a whisk to combine (the sugar will resemble moist sand). Caramelize the sugar for 7 to 8 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up any lumps (the sugar will first turn clear as it liquefies, then, light brown as it caramelizes). Remove the saucepan from the heat. Carefully pour about 1/3 of the hot cream into the caramelized sugar. Use a whisk to stir the caramel until it stops bubbling. Add the remaining cream and stir until smooth. Immediately pour the hot caramel over the chopped chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes before stirring with a whisk until very smooth. Refrigerate the ganache until just slightly firm but not hard (if the ganache is too firm, it will be difficult to pipe).
• Using a sharp paring knife, cut each puff in half horizontally. Transfer the chilled ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe about 1 heaping tablespoon (approximately 1-ounce) of ganache onto the bottom half of each puff, then place the top half of the puff onto each portion of ganache. Serve immediately, or store in a tightly sealed plastic container at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

CARAMEL SWIRLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk and flavoring. Gradually beat flour into creamed mixture. Refrigerate 2 hours or until easy to handle., In a microwave-safe bowl, melt caramels; stir until smooth. Stir in cream cheese until blended; set aside. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion between two pieces of waxed paper to 1/4-in. thickness. Spread caramel mixture over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges., Roll up tightly jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap; refrigerate 4 hours or until firm., Preheat oven to 350°. Unwrap and cut dough crosswise into 1/4-in. slices. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.