Cream Puffs and Other Delicious French Pastries

Flour, butter, eggs: three everyday store-cupboard ingredients which, with a little elbow grease, can be transformed into the wonderful and endlessly versatile cream puff pastry. From the quintessential Chocolate Eclair, always a favorite in the p tisserie shop window, to the delicate Green Matcha Cream Puffs--perfect for an elegant afternoon tea--and the impressive Gateaux St. Honore, this light-as-air buttery pastry offers so many options. Start with the Classics and enjoy Coffee Religieuse (so called because they are thought to look like nuns in their habits ), Vanilla Cream Puffs with Chantilly Cream and traditional Paris Brest praline rings (named after the Paris to Brest cycle ride and in the shape of a bicycle wheel). Fruity creations include Glazed Fruit Eclairs, Cherry Crumble Profiteroles and Strudel Cream Puffs, filled with a spiced apple pur e and topped with crunchy caramel. Cream puffs make the perfect treat to sit prettily on a cake stand at a Fancy afternoon tea: try Violet Eclairs, Earl Grey Tea Buns and Heart Cream Puffs, bursting with a fluffy Marshmallow filling. Finally, Desserts include a range of recipes from the simple After Dinner Profiteroles, filled with mint ice cream and topped with dark chocolate, to the more elaborate Croquembouche--traditionally served at weddings in France but ideal for any celebration. When you explore all the cream puff possibilities, you'll quickly find that these feather-light dainties are absolutely irresistible.