#hard difficulty

Ingredients (choux)

120g milk

120g water

15g caster sugar

113g butter

Pinch of salt

100g plain/white bread flour

50g brown flour (1)

210g eggs ≈4 eggs

Ingredients (whipped cream)

100g double cream

20g melted butter (2)

½ teaspoon vanilla

10g maple syrup

Method (choux)

Put water, milk, caster sugar, butter and salt in pot on medium low heat until the butter is melted and the mixture begins to boil.

Switch off the heat and add all the flour to the pot, then mix till you have a uniform dough.

Put the pot back on the heat and stir constantly for ≈5 minutes. (3)

Add whipped cream ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk till it's your desired consistency, then transfer the whipped cream to a smaller bowl to keep in the fridge.

Add eggs to the now empty mixing bowl and whisk, then transfer to a different smaller bowl or mug.

Add the dough to the now empty mixing bowl and add ≈⅓ of the whisked egg. Whisk till the egg is incorporated. (4)

Whisk in the remaining egg, making sure the dough is completely homogenous at the end.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and put a heatproof bowl or tin full of water at the bottom of the oven to create steam.

Put baking paper on an upside down baking tray and spoon (5) the dough into staggered rows, with each puff about 2cm apart. (6) Keep any unused dough in the fridge for a second batch, or place into a second baking tray if you have 2. (7)

Place the baking tray(s) in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Do not open the oven unless your oven is on fire.

Remove the cream puffs from the oven and poke a hole in the underside of each puff, then place them back in the oven for 10 minutes to dry out. (8)

You can either pipe in whipped cream using the hole in the underside, dip the puffs in cream or remove the bottom and spoon cream in.

Notes

You can use only white flour for this.

Vegan double cream is usually nearly impossible to whip to stiff peaks to I'm adding a bit more fat. It also tastes nice.

I forgot to do this.

It's going to look curdled at first but just keep going till the egg is incorporated. I would recommend am electric whisk unless it's arm day.

If you're like me and have made puff puff many times before but are too scared to put your hand near hot oil and also don't have a piping bag, spooning is easier than piping.

Each blob of batter should be about 13-15g. You can put a bowl on the kitchen scales and then try scooping different amounts of dough using a teaspoon to be able to visualise how much 15 g is before putting them on the baking sheet.

I crammed all my dough onto one baking sheet they got such together and the ones in the middle failed to rise properly. The spots on the baking paper show where I had originally put dough and compared with the size of the actual puffs they're tiny.