INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Put water, butter or salt in a large heavy saucepan and bring to a
boil. Remove from heat (butter should be completely melted) and add
the flour all in one fell swoop. Mix as quickly as possible with a
sturdy wooden spoon. This mixture is known as a "panade". Return the
saucepan to the stove over the lowest possible heat. Continue to stir
with the wooden spoon while the panade dries out. This will take  about
5 minutes, and a thin crust will form on the bottom of the pan.  This
is supposed to happen, so don't worry about it, and don't try to
scrape it up and incorporate it into the dough, or you will have
plaster chips in your pastries. The dough should be soft, but when  you
pinch it between thumb and forefinger it should not stick to your
hand. Dump the panade into a bolw, and let it cool for at least 5
minutes. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
addition. The mixture should be smooth and creamy looking before you
add the next egg. After all 4 eggs have been beaten in, the dough  will
be shiny and satiny yellow, thick and heavy. Butter and flour a  cookie
sheet. Fill a pastry bag with the diugh. If you don't have a  pastry
bag, you cna use a tablespoon to drop dollops of dough onto  the cookie
sheet for eclairs and/or cream puffs, but you really must  have a
pastry bag in order to make a cream puff ring.  For cream puffs,
Squeeze out balls about the size of ping pong or golf  balls.  For
eclairs, squeeze out oblongs at 3 to 4 inches long. If you are  using
the recipe given above, you should end up with 14 to 16  pastries.
Don't succumb to the temptation to make fewer and larger  ones, for
they won't cook properly if you do. Brush the tops of the  pastries
with beaten egg, using the bristles of the brush to gently  push down
and flatten out the little curlicues left by the pastry bag  as you
lifted it off. Finally, drag the tines of a dinner fork down  the
length of each eclair. The resulting stripes will make for a more
attractive and professional looking product.  For a cream puff ring,
first mark a 10" circle on the surface of the  buttered and floured
cookie sheet. Then, using a pastry gab, squeeze  out a 1" wide "halo"
of cream puff paste right on top of the circle  you've outlined.
Squeeze anoth 1" wide ring of dough adjacent to -  and touching - the
first. Squeeze a third ring directly over the  "crack" between the
other two. Brush the whole thing with beaten egg,  and sprinkle a
handful of thinly sliced almonds all over the top of  the ring. Let the
cream puffs, eclairs, or cream puff ring sit and  "dry" for no less
than 15 and no more than 25 minutes before baking.  The oven should be
preheated to 375F for cream puffs and/or eclairs,  and to 400F for a
cream puff ring. Bake the former at 375F for about  30 minutes, or
until they have puffed up nicely and turned golden  brown. Bake the
latter at 400F for about 45 minutes, or until it is  well puffed and
golden brown. Then, turn the oven off, open the door,  and leave it
halfway open for an hour. If it won't stay ajar by  itself, prop it
open by wedging something in there. This is to allow  steam to escape
and to let the pastries cool slowly and "dry" as they  cool so that
they won't collapse or become soft and soggy. After an  hour has
passed, remove the pastries from the oven. They are now  ready to be
filled.  To fill individual pastries: Cut cream puffs and eclairs in
half  (from side to side, not from top to bottom). Fill with whatever
filling you desire. Replace lids. Glaze with icing or pour sauce on
top. Serve. It is wise not to fill pastries to far in advance of the
serving time. The closer the preparation time is to the serving time,
the smaller the likelihood that the pastries will begin to soften or
get soggy.  To fill a cream ring: Use a slicing knife with a long
serrated blade  to cut the top off a cream puff ring. Fill the bottom
with praline  cream (or coffee cream, or chocolate cream) filling. Fill
a pastry  bag with sweetened whipped cream. use a nozzle with a zigzag
edge  (like pinking shears) to squeeze out a layer of fancy puff-balls
of  whipped cream all over the layer of praline cream filling. Finally,
replace the lid and dust the top with 10X powdered confectioners'
sugar. Keep the cream puff ring in a cool dry place until serving
time.  Recipe by: Homemade Good News (Vol 3 No 3)  Posted to
recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 457 by Bunny  <layla696@ix.netcom.com>
on Jan 5, 1998

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 455
Calories From Fat: 10
Total Fat: 1.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 591mg
Potassium: 136.2mg
Carbohydrates: 95.4g
Fiber: 3.4g
Sugar: <1g
Protein: 12.9g