Takoyaki Cream Puff

I forgot how old I was when I first entered the kitchen arena. I only remembered helping my mom when our house helpers went back to her hometown for holiday, and mom let me ‘played’ with her ‘instruments’ while watching her cooking. Afterwards, I helped her with the dishes. And I still remembered reading through her cooking notes, which sometimes I refer to as her ‘bible’. It’s a thick 500-pages cookbook which she wrote herself, just like her own diary. She sometimes added clipped pictures or interesting recipes she found on the newspaper or magazines. I have no idea how many books she has collected to date, but she definitely passed that habits to me. Thankfully, we have blog nowadays, so at least I don’t have to worry about cluttering another corner at home.

Speaking of recipes, eclair was one of the first recipes I baked on my own. It took me three or four tries before I baked a ‘perfect’ eclair. At that time, I was less than ten years old. I remembered that my mom purposedly did not lend a hand, so I could learn it all by myself and I could proudly call it my own creation. But she was there the whole time, gave me her support, answering any questions I had. It’s funny that each time I failed she always teased me of spending too much of her baking essentials, lol. But she was impressed when it’s all done – at least that’s what I think.

For me, the most challenging part in making eclair is to ‘wait patiently’ for the flour to cool down before adding the eggs. I failed many times, but I learned my lesson.

Eclairs have always been my favorite, simply because I love custard. Anything custard-y is always delicious. Here’s a quick and easy recipe to make eclairs… in the form of takoyaki. If the original shape of eclairs bore you, try this one.

Takoyaki Cream Puff

Ingredients

Choux Pastry:

• 100 gr butter
• 250 cc water
• 1 tsp salt
• 130 gr cake flour
• 3 medium eggs

Vanilla fillings:

• 2 yolks
• 50 gr cornstarch
• 75 gr sugar
• 500 ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Choux pastry:

• In a pot, combine butter, water, and salt. Add flour, and mix well. Let it cool.
• Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
• Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each until the dough becomes sticky.
• Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
• When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.

Vanilla fillings:

• Mix cornstarch with 1/2 milk and yolk. Set aside.
• In a pot, combine milk and sugar; then add the cornstarch mixture. Keep stirring until you reach the right (pudding thickness) consistency.