Strawberry Cream Puffs With Strawberry Sauce

By á-830

Ingredients

• Cream puffs:
• 3/4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• Filling:
• 1 cup chilled whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kirsch (clear cherry brandy)
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 large strawberries, hulled
• Strawberry sauce:
• 2 pints strawberries, hulled, divided use
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• Powdered sugar

Details

Servings 12

Preparation

Step 1

For cream puffs:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring to melt butter. Add flour; using wooden spoon, stir vigorously until mixture clumps together, forming ball. Stir 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. Transfer dough to medium bowl. Using electric mixer, add eggs one at time, beating until dough is smooth after each addition (dough will be slightly soft and shiny).
Using 1 rounded tablespoon dough for each cream puff, spoon dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart and forming mounds about 3/4 inch to 1 inch high and 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Using moist fingertips, gently press tops of cream puffs to flatten any peaks. Bake until golden brown, about 37 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to rack; let cream puffs cool. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

For filling:
Beat cream, 1 teaspoon sugar, kirsch and vanilla in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Combine 6 strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar in small bowl. Using fork, crush berries. Fold crushed strawberry mixture into cream.

For sauce:
Puree 1 basket strawberries in processor. Transfer to bowl. Stir in sugar. Quarter remaining strawberries; add to sauce. Makes about 2 1/3 cups.
Cut top third off each cream puff. Place cream puff bottoms, cut side up, on plates. Spoon filling into bottoms, mounding slightly. Ladle sauce over, allowing sauce to spill onto plates. Top with cream puff tops. Dust with powdered sugar.