=@.@= Totoro Cream Puffs =@.@=

Recently I watched My Neighbour Totoro and fell in love with the gigantic chinchilla. Yes I know I am very late, this cartoon was made in 1988 and I only watched it last week. But great cartoon lasts forever, don't you agree? With my new found love, of course I started to buy Totoro stuffs and even bake cream puff in Totoro shapes ;)

Oh mine, I simply love these cuties!

Cream puffs taste best after chilled, the custard cream will taste like ice-cream. I brewed a cup of lemongrass lemon tea to go along with the puffs for supper, is an indulgence.

RECIPE

This recipe is divided into 3 parts -
(1) make the custard cream filling and fridge
(2) cook the dough and bake into puffs
(3) decorate with chocolate

Makes about 14-15 pieces.

Recipe is modified from www.annathered.com

Ingredient for Custard Cream filling
1 beaten egg
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp corn flour
200 ml  milk
1 tbsp of dairy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or essence (I prefer bean paste for the more intense flavor)

Method to make Custard Cream using microwave
1. Mix beaten egg and sugar.
2.Sift in the plain flour and corn flour, mix well.
3. Add in milk little at a time and mix. 
4. Pour the liquid into a microwavable bowl through a sieve to obtain a smooth custard.
5. Microwave it on high heat uncovered for 1.5 min.
6. Take it out and mix well.
7. Microwave it on high heat again for another 1.5 min. It should look like pudding after the 2nd microwave.
8. Take it out and mix well by add whipping cream and vanilla essence.
9. Cover the custard with cling wrap directly on the surface, this is to prevent a thickening layer forming. Let the custard cooled down and place inside the fridge.

Ingredient for the Puffs
80 ml water
4 tbsp unsalted butter 
2 beaten eggs
2 pinches of salt
6 tbsp plain flour (sifted)

Method for the Puffs
1. Put water, butter and salt in a saucepan and bring it to boil. Best to use non-stick saucepan.
2. Remove the sauce pan from the stove when it starts to boil, add the flour in all at once and stir well with a spatula.
3. When the pan is cooled down enough that you can touch the pan’s bottom with a finger, add 2 tbsp of beaten egg stir well.
4. Keep checking the texture as you add a tbsp of beaten egg at a time. The dough is ready when the dough is thin enough that when you scoop the dough up, a lump falls after 3~5 seconds, making a triangle shape from the spatula. You don't have to use up all the egg, just make sure you got the correct texture.
5. When the dough is ready, put it in piping bag and cut a corner of the bag.
6. On a tray lined with parchment paper, pipe a round shape for the body and continue by making an oval shape for the head. The size is about 3.0 inch.
7. Using another piping bag with a smaller hole pipe 2 small triangle shape as the ears.
8. With a wet finger, gently push down any pointy parts on the dough and ears.
9. Pre-heat oven to 200-210 degree Celsius. Bake for 25-30mins. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN at all, it will deflate the dough and fail the bake!
10.The puffs should be ready when they are golden brown in color.
11. Remove from oven and cool down completely on cooling rack.
12. Make a slit at the bottom of each puff. 
13. Pipe in the custard cream filling.

Ingredient for the Decoration
1 tbsp White compound chocolates
1 tbsp Dark converture chocolates
Icing sugar and water
Snow powder (optional)

Method for the Decoration
1. Melt the white compound chocolate using microwave with high heat for 20 secs. Take it out to check, if chocolates are not melted put it back and heat for another 20 secs.
2. On a tray/ plate pipe the melted white chocolate into small circles as the eyes using pipping bag.
3. Cover the chocolates with a parchment paper and lightly press to flatten the eyes.
4. Place inside the freezer to set the chocolates.
5. Melt the dark converture chocolates using the same method.
6. Pour the melted chocolate into piping bag and cut a tiny hole. Remove the piped white eyes from the freezer and pipe the pupils onto the eyes with the dark chocolate.
7. Mix some icing sugar with a little water to act as the gluing agent. Stick the chocolate eyes onto the cream puffs and pipe the nose and whiskers on each puff.
8. You may dust some snow powder on the puff as the body if you like.

 TOTORO =@.@=  TOTORO =@.@=  TOTORO =@.@=  TOTORO

 My papercraft of Totoro and Catbus