Cream Puffs with Vanilla Custard

I absolutely love Downtown Los Angeles! It's so amazing! Especially the architecture and the many different districts. There's Fashion district for all of your cheap fashion goodies, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Flower district for all the flowers you can imagine for cheap! So many things to do, so many things to see!

So what did I do in a day? There's so many places to go, I still have to go back to explore! But firstly, I visited some historic landmarks; this includes the Bradbury Building, Angel's Flight Railway (also the famous 500 Days of Summer bench), Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Olvera Street.

The only downside?? Parking! No expecting free parking here! When you go to LA, be prepared to pay for parking wherever you go! 

Bradbury Building Inside

We ended the day at Griffith Observatory, which overlooks all of LA and the cities that surround it. It also gives a great view of the Hollywood sign.

Griffith Observatory at Night

LA is a great city! It's full of history and beautiful architecture! Definitely more than just glitz and glam!

Anyways, I made these amazing cream puffs, aka profiteroles...or choux (choux à la crème if with cream filling). Cream puffs are made with choux pastry, the same type of pastry used in eclairs. It is first cooked on the stove, then baked in an oven. The cream puffs become hollow on the inside while baking. They can be filled with just about anything, from cream to ganache to fresh fruit.

First you cook the butter, water, and flour on the stove. The next step is to add the eggs. While making the cream puffs, it is important to let the pastry cool before adding the eggs to ensure that the eggs wont start to cook. It is also important that a few minutes before baking ends, that you poke holes at the top of the cream puffs and lower the oven temperature a little! My first batch sank like a bad game of battleship!

For the custard, I actually used a double boiling in place of the actual saucepan. It takes a bit longer, but it's a lot easier to make sure that it won't burn!

Cream puff recipe from Joy of Baking. Vanilla custard recipe from Epicurious. 

Cream Puffs:

Makes about 12 small cream puffs.

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a boil. Stir in flour, sugar, and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl and cool. 
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then decrease temperature to 350 degrees. Poke a hole in the pastry with a toothpick. Continue to bake until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
5. When the shells are cool split and fill them.

Vanilla Custard:

Makes about 2 cups of custard.

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups whole milk
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Heat milk in a saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not boiling.
2. While milk heats, whisk together yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heatproof bowl until smooth.
3. Add 1 cup hot milk to yolk mixture in a stream, whisking, then add remaining milk, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and registers 170°F on thermometer, 6 to 10 minutes (do not boil).
4. Immediately force custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in butter and vanilla. 
5. Chill custard, its surface covered with wax paper, until cold and thickened, at least 3 hours.