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For the shell, beat up 4 eggs very well and leave on the counter for about 15-20 minutes until it reaches room temperature in order to get a smooth batter later.
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Meanwhile, heat up milk, sugar, butter and salt in a sauce pan until the butter is all melted, the sugar is dissolved and the mixture boils rapidly.
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Turn to medium heat, then add ALL of the flour in AT ONCE, quickly use a wooden spoon to mix the flour into the milk mixture.
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The flour will absorb the liquid very quickly, keep stirring to get all of the white flour spot cooked.
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Stir until the paste can be easily removed from the side of the pan.
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Move the dough to a bowl, use a stand mixer with a paddle or a hand mixer to beat the dough until the dough cools down to touch (you don't see the steam coming out any more).
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Slowly add the egg mixture a little bit at a time (about 1/4 of the egg mixture).
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Initially you will see the dough all lumpy, keep your cool and keep mixing the dough until all the egg mixture is absorbed and the dough turns to a paste-like texture.
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It is very important to let all of the egg mixture absorb before adding more egg.
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The end product should be a smooth, sticky dough that can keep its form.
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Line the tray with parchment paper.
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Pour the dough into a pipping bag or a big ziploc bag.
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Cut the end about an inch.
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Hold the bag at a 90 degree angle with the pan, 1 inch up high and start squeezing the bag, it should form a ball like in the picture.
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The size of the dough is up to you, I like to make small sized cream puffs.
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The pan in the picture is 17x12 inch.
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In a preheated oven at 390 F, place the tray in the middle rack, bake for 20 minutes.
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Then turn the heat down to 340F and bake for another 20 minutes.
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I only bake one tray at a time.
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I do not bake 2 trays because you CAN NOT open the oven door during the process to switch the trays.
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Again, do NOT open the oven door while baking, otherwise you can start over.
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This is how the shell should look like, slightly brown outside and airy inside.
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Let the shell on a cooling rack to cool down completely.
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For the custard, in a big bowl, mix the egg yolks and 60 g sugar.
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Beat until the mixture turn pale in color and completely smooth.
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Then add the corn starch and mix well.
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In a saucepan (I am lazy so I just use the pan to cook the shell dough), add milk and 20 g sugar, and bring to a simmer, make sure that the sugar dissolves.
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You can see small bubbles at the side of the pan.
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SLOWLY pour the hot milk into the egg bowl while using a whisk to stir constantly.
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Keep stirring until all of the milk is added.
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Then pour the egg milk mixture back to the pan.
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On medium heat, use the whisk to stir constantly until the mixture starts to thicken, turn the heat to low and keep stirring.
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You want the custard to be creamy but not too thick, so do not over cook it.
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Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove.
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Then add the cold butter and vanilla extract, stir until all the butter is melted completely.
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Pour the custard to a bowl, place the plastic wrap right on top of the custard.
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Store in the fridge until completely cool.
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If you are in a hurry, take the bowl out of the fridge and stir every 30 minutes to let the custard cool down faster.
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When the custard is cold, in a bowl, add cold heavy cream and powder sugar, beat on medium speed until soft peak, you can see the waves from the mixer whisk.
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Then fold the whip cream into the custard until the mixture is perfectly smooth.
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Assembly: you can cut the custard in half and pipe the custard on the bottom shell then place the top shell on top.
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OR you can use one chop stick to poke a hole on the side or the bottom of the shell, stir around inside to break the shell membrane then use a piping bag with a small tip to fill the shell with custard.
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Sprinkle with powder sugar before serving.
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Enjoy!
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:)
