Cream Puffs

Preparation

1. Beads of moisture

   Step 1

   This happens when cream puffs are underbaked. Return them to the hot oven, turn off the oven at once, and let them sit in there for 5 minutes with the door slightly ajar (the traditional oven door prop is a wooden spoon). The beads of moisture should disappear.

2. Collapsed and soggy

   Step 2

   Cream puffs collapse when they are cooked on the outside and too moist on the inside. So slice off the top, remove the moist dough with your fingers (yes, you can eat it), replace the top, and return to the hot oven. Turn off the oven, leave the door ajar, and wait for 10 minutes. Then proceed normally.

   Step 3

   Next time, here’s the professionals’ method for perfect puffs: as soon as they’re cooled, put your puffs in the freezer. Even if you’re serving them the same day, freeze them. When you’re ready to assemble them, put them on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 2 minutes. Slice them in half and fill. They’ll be crisp outside and soft inside, just as they should be.

3. Didn’t puff

   Step 4

   Make a splendid dish with crispy outsides by coating the unpuffed puffs with caramelized sugar. Toss them (using two forks) in a pot of caramelized sugar. Let them harden (which happens almost instantly) and then split them and fill as you had planned.