Cream Puff Recipe
and Chocolate Eclair Recipe

You could say that these recipes are prepared with the first puff pastry, a choux paste first created in the 16th century during the Renaissance era of France and Italy. Its unique feature? It rises when baked and forms a hollow center just begging to be filled with something great.

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 large eggs
Vanilla custard, sweet whipped cream or pudding

1. Bring the water and butter to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. While it is heating sift together the flour, salt, and cornstarch. Add the flour mixture to the boiling water all at once, stirring quickly and constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a ball around the spoon. Remove from the heat.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, to form a smooth, stiff, glossy dough.

3. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2" apart. Bake in a preheated 375°oven until light golden brown and firm, 25 to 35 minutes. Cool thoroughly.

4. Cut the puffs in half horizontally and fill the bottoms with about 1 tablespoon vanilla custard, whipped cream or chocolate, vanilla, or lemon pudding each. Replace the tops. Dust with confectioner's sugar, if desired. Makes about 24 mini cream puffs.

Chocolate Eclair Recipe

Prepare the dough (choux paste) as above. Using a pastry bag with a large, plain tip, form the dough into 3" long rectangles. Bake and fill as above, and frost the top with chocolate frosting and/or chocolate shavings.

Uncomplicated Chocolate Mousse

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