Cocoa Puff Balls Recipes

CHOCOLATE CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet lightly with some shortening. Put beaters into the freezer to chill.
• Combine water and shortening in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt all at once and reduce heat to low. Stir mixture vigorously until it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time, with chilled beaters, beating vigorously after each addition until batter is smooth and glossy. Drop dough into 6 mounds on the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until puffed and dry, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and pierce the side of each puff with a knife to allow steam to escape. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely, abut 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine sugar, cocoa powder and whipping cream in a bowl for the filling. Beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until needed.
• Cut cooled puffs in half horizontally. Fill with cocoa whipped cream.
• For the glaze, pour whipping cream into a small pot and heat until hot. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips until melted. Allow to cool slightly. Drizzle chocolate glaze over the cream puffs and refrigerate until serving.

CHOCOLATE PUFFED WHEAT SQUARES

Steps:

• Place puffed wheat in a large bowl, and set aside. Grease one 9x9 inch pan.
• Grease the rim of a medium saucepan to prevent boil-over. Place the cocoa powder, corn syrup, brown sugar, and butter or margarine in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often until mixture comes to a full boil. Allow to boil for 1 minute, and then remove from heat.
• Pour chocolate mixture over puffed wheat, and stir until puffed wheat is evenly coated. Using a buttered spatula, press mixture into the prepared pan. Allow to cool, then cut as desired. Wrap squares individually, or store in an airtight container.

COCOA PUFFS

Steps:

• Choux Pastry:.
• Heat oven to 400°F.
• Put the water and butter in a saucepan and heat to boiling.
• Remove from heat, add the flour and stir until a ball of dough forms and pulls away from the side of the pan.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Scoop onto foil-lined baking sheet. I used a pastry bag with a wide tip to make little balls. Make them small, approximately an inch in diameter or so, you want these to be one or two bites per puff.
• Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 325 and bake for 30 minutes, or until dry-looking. When done, they should easily be removed from the foil.
• Allow to cool completely. I left them in the (cold) oven overnight.
• Chocolate Pastry Cream Filling:.
• Put sugar, egg yolks, flour and vanilla into a saucepan and mix well.
• In a separate saucepan, and milk and butter and heat to scalding.
• Very slowly, add the milk mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
• Cook on low heat, stirring, until the mixture reaches the boiling point.
• Cook 4 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
• Add the grated chocolate and cook one minute longer.
• Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally.
• Once cool, press plastic wrap to the surface (to keep a skin from forming) and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Note that this filling is not very sweet, you may want to add more sugar to taste.
• Chantilly Frosting:.
• Combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter, vanilla and salt in a saucepan. Use a large saucepan as the mixture bubbles and spits during cooking.
• Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick, approximately 12 minutes.
• Remove from heat, and continue to stir until cool and thick.
• Use immediately or refrigerate for later use (it will become quite thick but still spreadable).
• Assembly:.
• Use the tip of a knife to make a small hole in the bottom of each pastry puff.
• Using a pastry bag, fill the puffs with the chocolate pastry cream filling.
• Frost the tops of the puffs with the chantilly frosting, My frosting was pretty thick, but I could still spread it with a butter knife.
• Enjoy! Store leftovers in the refrigerator but they won't last long!

COCOA PUFFS W/CHANTILLY FROSTING

Steps:

• Chantilly Frosting:.
• Combine milk, sugar, butter, egg yolks and vanilla.
• Cook stirring constantly, over medium heat for 12 minutes, until mixture thickens.
• Add vanilla extract.
• Chill 1 hour covered with a piece of plastic wrap directly on surface for proper spreading consistency.
• For Filling:.
• Combine all ingredients and beat with an electric mixer for 6-7 minutes on highest speed.
• For Choux:.
• Boil water and block of butter.
• Remove from heat, dump in flour.
• Stir until ball of dough forms and pulls away form the sides of saucepan.
• Mix in eggs one at a time, beat for 1 minute before adding the next.
• Scoop onto foiled cookie sheet.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then lower heat to 325 degrees for 30-35 minute (Puffs should look dry. They should peel off the foil and tip over when nudged gently with a wooden spoon.)
• Cool and cut off tops with a serrated knife. Fill, put back tops, and sprinkle w/10x sugar, or frost with chantilly frosting.
• * To fill without cutting off the tops, spoon filling into a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Poke the tip trough the choux puff and squeeze the bag to fill the puff.