Pumpkin White Chocolate Cream Puff “Napoleon”
There are some no-brainer food combinations that come to mind when I think of things to make for dessert: chocolate and mint, chocolate and cherry, chocolate and coconut, chocolate and almond, chocolate and peanut butter, white chocolate and berries, hmm…chocolate, white, milk, or dark, seems to compliment an inexhaustible list of flavors, huh? However, chocolate desserts, even when they contain fruit, can be quite heavy. The solution? Use the chocolate as a background flavor, as I’ve done in this take on a napoleon, using pate a choux (cream puff) disks in place of the traditional puff pastry rectangles, and pumpkin white chocolate puree in place of the heavy pastry cream filling. The result is a light, texturally interesting, and visually impressive dessert. And, of course, it’s delish- would I post the recipe if it wasn’t? Be assured, its a winner. Enjoy! : )
Pumpkin White Chocolate Pate a Choux “Napoleon”
Pate a Choux Dough (adapted from Nick Malgieri’s “How to Bake“)
Makes 30 3” rounds
1 cup water
6 tablespoons butter (I actually prefer salted butter, here)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
2/3 cup coarse white sugar, for sprinkling (coarse brown sugar is a fine substitute- look for demerara sugar)
pastry bag with 1/4 inch round tip
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet, or place a spat mat on the baking sheet. Arrange racks so that they are in the center of the oven.
2. Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium size saucepan or pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil. When mixture boils, turn off heat, add flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated and mixture leaves the sides of the pot cleanly.
3. Transfer paste to a bowl and spread the paste up the sides of the bowl to quicken cooling process. Let cool for 1 minute, then add eggs, one at a time, stirring until each is absorbed before adding the next.
4. Spoon mixture into pastry bag fitted with 1/4 inch wide round tip and pipe 3” pinwheels onto the baking sheet, keeping 1” between each puff. Pipe pinwheels by starting in the center first and coiling the dough around the center. When you’ve made a 3” pinwheel, release pressure on the bag and pull the tip away to the side (don’t pull the tip up) in a quick motion. Sprinkle tops of pinwheels liberally with coarse sugar. Don’t worry about shaking excess sugar off the baking sheet or mat, it will just caramelize in the oven and add extra crunch to the pinwheels.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and fully cooked through. Puffs should retain their shape out of the oven. If they collapse on themselves, bake for an extra minute or two.
Pumpkin White Chocolate Puree
Makes enough for 4 Napoleons
1 small can pumpkin puree
1/4 cup real maple syrup
2 tsp molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave
Method:
1. Mix 1/2 pumpkin puree (1 of the two parts) with the rest of the ingredients, except for the white chocolate, together in a bowl. Divide in half. Add melted white chocolate chips to one of the halves, mix and set both bowls aside.
Construction of the “Napoleon”
Pate a Choux Pinwheels
Pumpkin Puree
White Chocolate Pumpkin Puree
white chocolate chips, about 1/8 cup per person
1. Place a pinwheel cream puff in the center of a plate. Spoon or pipe about 1 tbsp of the non-white chocolate pumpkin puree onto the pinwheel and repeat layering process until you have used 3 pinwheels. Repeat with other plates.
2. Drizzle white chocolate pumpkin puree over each stack and sprinkle with white chocolate chips so your guests know the components of the dessert. Enjoy!
-M : )
