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Preparation
20 minutes
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Processing
1 hour 50 minutes
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Difficulty
Medium
Hedgehog-shaped choux pastry has a lovely, eye-catching appearance along with a fairly simple recipe. With a light aroma of vanilla and a mildly rich taste, it will surely be a cake suitable for you to show off your skills for your family. Into the kitchen with TasteVN!
Ingredients for Chocolate Hedgehog Choux Serves 6
Cake flour 90 gr Fresh milk 200 ml Chicken eggs 6 eggs Heavy cream 110 gr Condensed milk 10 gr Dark chocolate 40 gr Pure cocoa powder 22 gr Melted white chocolate 100 gr Melted dark chocolate 50 gr Melted milk chocolate 100 gr Crushed nuts 240 gr Sweet liquid 10 gr (starch syrup) Vanilla 1 pod Unsalted butter 95 gr Rum 5 ml Powdered sugar 10 gr Sugar 43 gr Salt 3 gr
Information about some ingredients
Sweet liquid starch syrup
Starch syrup (also known as Glucose syrup) is made from the starch of cassava, potatoes, wheat, barley, etc., and is formed into a sweet liquid through the process of hydrolyzing starch. You can find this ingredient in baking stores or on e-commerce sites.
Cake flour
Cake flour is made from finely ground wheat, with a high starch content. In baking, this flour helps make the cake soft and airy. You can easily find this type of flour on e-commerce sites or in stores specializing in baking ingredients.
Required tools
Microwave, oven, sifter, whisk, spatula, bowl, piping bag, plastic wrap,…
How to make hedgehog-shaped chocolate choux cake
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Whisk eggs and sift flour
Separate the yolks of 3 eggs into a bowl along with 40g of sugar and use a whisk to mix for about 10 minutes until the sugar is dissolved, creating a smooth mixture.
Continue to sift 20g of cake flour into the egg-sugar mixture and mix well.
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Heat the flour mixture
Use a knife to slice the dry vanilla pod in half, then use a spoon to extract the concentrated vanilla inside the pod.
Put 200ml of fresh milk and a bit of vanilla (about 1/4 teaspoon), along with the vanilla pod into a pot, stir well, and heat over medium heat for about 5 – 7 minutes until the mixture lightly simmers (bubbles) then turn off the heat.
Pour this vanilla milk mixture into the flour – sugar – egg mixture from step 1 and use a whisk to blend. Continue to strain through a sieve once more to obtain a smooth mixture.
Turn on the stove and bring this mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring with a whisk for about 10 minutes until the mixture thickens, then add 10g of unsalted butter and 10g of condensed milk, mixing well before turning off the heat.
Use a tray lined with a layer of plastic wrap at the bottom, then pour the thickened mixture evenly into the tray and cover with plastic wrap, sealing tightly on the surface and place it in the freezer for about 30 minutes to let the mixture set slightly. After that, pour the mixture into a bowl and use a spatula or mixer to mix well.
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Making chocolate cream filling
Use a knife to chop 40g of dark chocolate finely, then put it into a bowl with the finely chopped dark chocolate and 40g of heavy cream.
Heat the mixture in the microwave for about 40 seconds to melt the mixture.
Then use a spatula to mix well, finally add this mixture to the batter mixed in step 2 and use a whisk to mix evenly.
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Making choux pastry
Sift 70g of cake flour and 12g of pure cocoa powder into a bowl and mix well.
Add 3 eggs, both whites and yolks, into the bowl and beat the eggs.
In a pot, add 60ml of fresh milk, 60ml of water, 60g of unsalted butter, 3g of salt, 3g of sugar, turn on the stove at medium heat and stir until the mixture dissolves and simmers for about 5 minutes, then turn off the heat. Next, add the sifted flour and cocoa powder mixture and mix well, cooking over medium heat while stirring. Use a thermometer to check; if the temperature reaches 75 degrees Celsius, turn off the heat and pour the mixture into a bowl.
Finally, gradually add the beaten eggs, pouring in small amounts and using a spatula to mix until all the eggs are incorporated and a smooth, slightly sticky mixture is formed.
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Baking the choux pastry
Line a baking tray with parchment paper, place the mixture mixed in step 3 into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, then pipe out long round choux pieces evenly on the surface of the tray.
Put the tray in the oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. After baking, you will obtain soft, beautiful choux pastries.
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Shaping the hedgehog
Dip both ends of the choux pastry into melted white chocolate to create the head and tail of the hedgehog (cover more white chocolate on the head), lightly spray water on the chocolate to add sharpness and set the chocolate.
For the head of the hedgehog, dip a little milk chocolate to make the snout, use dark chocolate to dot the tip of the snout and make the hedgehog’s eyes.
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Pumping chocolate cream filling
Make holes at both ends on the back of the cream puff and use a piping bag to fill the hedgehog’s belly with melted chocolate milk (the filling at the bottom of the cream puff as shown).
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Decoration
Add 70g of heavy cream into a bowl, then immerse the bowl in a basin of ice water while whisking evenly.
Use another bowl to mix 240g of crushed chestnuts, 25g of unsalted butter, 10g of liquid sweetener (starch syrup), 5ml of rum, and 70g of whipped heavy cream, then mix the mixture evenly.
Tip
- Whisking in the ice water basin will make the heavy cream whip faster.
- You can substitute the liquid sweetener with 5ml of sugar syrup.
Then put the mixture into a piping bag and proceed to cover the hedgehog’s body to create the outer fur layer.
Attach 2 ears shaped from melted chocolate. Then, sift a little pure cocoa powder and some powdered sugar over the hedgehog’s body. Decorate with a few mint leaves to finish.
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Final Product
The cream puff with a soft, airy shell, rich and fragrant cream filling decorated to look like adorable hedgehogs will surely make anyone who tries it fall in love and praise your skill!
Tips for Successful Execution
- You should adhere to the recipe, measuring the ingredients precisely.
- Before adding eggs to the batter for mixing, you should let the batter sit for about 2 – 3 minutes to cool down.
- You can check the batter by using a whisk to lift the batter up so that it flows in a standing mass.
Tips for Storing Cream Puffs
- After making the cream puffs, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or you can keep the shells and filling separately, and fill them when you are ready to eat.
- However, it is best to keep the puffs for a maximum of 1 day as they will dry out and lose their delicious flavor over time.
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TasteVN wishes you success in making hedgehog-shaped chocolate cream puffs for your little one to enjoy!
*Source reference for the recipe and images from the YouTube channel: Chocolate Cacao
