Ingredients
Units
For the choux pastry:
- ½ cup full-fat milk
- ½ cup water
- 8 Tbsp butter
- 1 tsp salt
- I Tbsp + 1 tsp sugar
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp sifted all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
For the garnish:
- 2 Tbsp sliced almonds
- 1 tsp egg white
- ½ tsp powdered sugar
For the pecan and date honey custard filling:
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp full-fat milk
- 3 egg yolks
- scant ¼ cup sugar
- ½ vanilla bean (or 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract)
- scant 1 cup chopped honey-roasted or candied pecans
- ¼ cup date honey
- ½ cup whipped heavy cream (from ¼ cup heavy cream)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- To make the choux pastry: In a pan, bring the milk, water, sugar, salt and butter to a boil. Immediately take the pan off the heat and add the full flour amount all at once.
- Mix with a wooden spoon, and put the pan back on a medium low flame, and cook until the mixture starts to dry out and the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan to form a ball around your spoon. Take the mixture off the heat and let the mixture cool slightly.
- In a mixer on low speed (or in a medium bowl by hand), add the eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is thoroughly combined, before adding the next egg. (The mixture will curdle initially, but then come back together as you beat it.)
- Prep a baking sheet by lining with baking paper, and tacking the paper down with a small dot of the choux pastry mixture on the underside of each corner.
- Fill a large pastry bag with the mixture, and using a 6-inch round cookie cutter to guide you, pipe a fat 7-inch circle. The circle should be a bit raised, and not completely flat.
- Mix the almonds, egg white and powdered sugar and spread it on top of the piped circles. Bake for 40 minutes, until deep golden brown, take out of the oven, and set aside to let cool.
- To make the pecan and date honey custard: Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup cold milk. Add the egg yolks and sugar, and lightly beat into a fully combined mixture.
- Pour the rest of the milk (3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp) into a sauce pan. Add the vanilla bean and bring to a boil. Remove the vanilla bean from the pot with a slotted spoon, split and with the help of a spoon scrape the seeds into the sauce pan. Return the vanilla pod to the pot, and lower the heat.
- Add a third of the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture and beat well. Pour the tempered egg yolk mixture back into the hot milk mixture and cook over a low flame, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture thickens, and can coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the empty vanilla pod, add chopped pecans and date honey, and mix to combine.
- Pour the mixture to a bowl, and cover with a piece of plastic wrap directly covering the surface of the custard. Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to the fridge to chill for two hours.
- After chilling, whisk the custard for about half a minute to get a smooth mixture without clumps. Whip cream, and fold into the custard mixture and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip.
- To assemble: Cut the cooled choux pastries in half lengthwise, pipe a fat layer of custard and seal with the other half like a sandwich. Sift powdered sugar over the top as a garnish.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes + 2 hours chill time
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Israeli