Annual Anime Boston Treat

Every year Anime Boston sets up in town and being the wee geeky I am, I have to go. Over the years I've come to gather friends on the team that runs the convention as well as an appreciation for all their hard word. As a token of my appreciation I try to make something I can drop off and they can enjoy. This year I decided to finally take on something I've been hankering to try yet a bit fearful of doing so, the classic pate a choux which is fancy french name for the dough that is the basis of so many things but first and foremost in my mind, the classic cream puff. I looked over, as I generally do, dozens of recipes and ended up modifying one from Alton Brown. Of course I feared that what I would create was a dense little dough ball and not the puff dried shell with a giant air pocket to fill with goodies. I monitored these through the glass pane in my oven door like a hawk over her babies. During the first 10 minutes of high temp baking they turned a bit golden but didn't puff up at all. My heart fell. I started seeking out other recipes. Maybe I could make them a nice batch of cookies. I'm good at cookies... After about 5 minutes of the lower temp baking I went back to check and what a difference 5 minutes makes! They had puffed up big and beautiful. I fear no more. Give it a try yourself. They are almost ridiculously easy to whip up. I haven't included a recipe for filling because that's really up to your imagination. I filled some of mine with butterscotch pudding and other with chocolate mousse.

Cream Puff

1 cup water
3/4 stick butter (cut into pieces)
1 tblsp sugar
1 tsp salt
5 3/4 ounces flour
1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs

Boil water, butter, salt, and sugar together until all the butter is melted. Remove from heat and immediately add all the flour at once. Stir until it comes together with a wooden spoon. Put back medium heat and stir until all the dough comes away from the pot like a big soft ball and its leaving a barely visible film on the bottom of the pot. Take off heat and continue to stir stir stir until dough has cooled so that when you touch it with the back if your (clean) fingers its hot but not burning you. Dump dough out into mixing bowl. At this point I switched to an electric mixer but you can continue on with arm power if you've got it. Add one egg at a time and mix until each egg is incorporated before adding another. It will look like the dough is coming apart each time you add a new egg. Do not fear! Just keep mixing. At the end you should get a dough with a bit of sheen to it. Put into pastry bag fitted with the biggest round tip you've got. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or non stick tin foil. Pipe balls as big or small as you like but make them all uniform in size. I aimed for about 1.5 inch diameter because I wanted them fairly bite sized. If there's a little pointy tip at the top you can pat this down with a finger wetted with water. Bake at 425F for 10 minutes then 350F for another 10 minutes or until golden. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR DURING BAKING. As soon as they are done, take then out and with a sharp knife poke a little slit into the puffs to release the steam so they won't collapse. Let cool and fill with whatever you like. They're best served shortly after being filled.