It’s been a while. Between some vacations and increasing laziness, I somehow let over a month lapse since my last post. But I’ve been baking stuff. I’m just way behind in posting things.
A few months ago, I was enjoying some cream puffs from Beard Papa’s at a friend’s place. And, as usual, I enjoyed them very much. But it got me thinking, can’t I just make these at home? It seemed simple enough. Or is it?
Before making them, though, you have to wonder how they decided to shove custard into a pastry shell. I mean, why not like a custard sandwich with two pieces of pastry? Or just custard spooned on top of the pastry?
Masaru was angry. He had a terrible run-in with his cantankerous boss today, and to make matters worse, he missed his train by mere seconds, and he had to wait for another fifteen minutes on the platform.
Blind with rage, he kicked over a trash can on the platform. The contents spilled out like vomit from a sick child’s mouth, and women let out screams of terror. He hung his head low, looking for another object on which he could take out his frustration, when he spied an attractive young lady sitting on the bench. Earphones in her ears, nose in a magazine, she didn’t seem to notice the ruckus he had just caused.
There is nothing like the sight of a beautiful woman to cool the red-hot rage of a man. The blood seemed to rush straight down out of Masaru’s head. He calmly strode over to where the young lady was sitting and took the seat right next to hers. She looked up at him briefly, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly upon the sight of his face.
She removed her headphones with this stranger right next to her. Seizing the opportunity of her open ears, he asked her what magazine she was reading. She replied that it was an entertainment magazine she liked to read to keep up with her celebrity gossip.
Celebrity gossip turned into personal history, and soon they were talking about their pasts as if they had nothing to hide. He was Masaru, an accountant originally from Aichi. She was Ayumi, a receptionist originally from Aomori. During their brief twelve-minute chat, they learned that they both loved custard buns from the bakery. She actually had some at her apartment from this morning, and she casually invited him over.
Ayumi couldn’t believe what she had just done. She had just invited this man she had just met, after less than fifteen minutes of conversation. Less than a thousand seconds, less time than the news program she watched every day, and here she was inviting this man into her home. All because he was so friendly, and he had such a handsome face that could have shown up in one of her celebrity magazines.
They boarded the train together, where they continued their conversation about where they were from, the fact that they were single, the custard buns they both loved, the fact that they were single, and so forth. Her hand found its way into his somehow, and four stops later, they hadn’t let go but it was her stop. They rose together and walked out of the station, down the street three blocks to her apartment.
It was a clean but small apartment, and right when he walked in Masaru could smell the faint smell of roses from her air freshener. He immediately spied the bag of custard buns sitting on her kitchen table, his eyes drawn to them like magnets of opposite polarity. While his eyes were transfixed upon the confectioneries on the table, Ayumi’s eyes and then her hands went immediately for Masaru’s waist, stripping his belt out of its loops like pulling the string to spin a top. Startled, he took his gaze off of the pastries and onto her eyes. They stared into each other’s souls, the room around them fading away like it didn’t matter.
Her blouse was as easy to take off as cheap plastic wrap protecting a book, and likewise with his loose trousers that she could have unzipped in her sleep. Buttons on various garments were undone, and their lips found themselves intertwined, nearly-naked bodies pressed against each other. Perspiration enabled their skin to slide against each other effortlessly, and the final few undergarments were ripped off of their respective bodies. Her back was pressed against her sofa, while his chest was pressed into her breasts, his tongue darting into her mouth as if it were trying to find something it lost in the deep crevasses of her throat.
Natural lubrication flowing, Masaru gently inserted his throbbing member into her sex, already dripping from the excitement of the past minutes. They simultaneously and involuntarily moaned, pleasure erupting from their nether regions and coursing throughout their entire bodies. She closed her eyes, unable to keep her eyelids open from the intensity of the thrusts her vagina was experiencing.
Ayumi felt like her body was being lifted into the air on a blissful cloud, feelings of warmth swaddling her like a blanket from her childhood. Except this blanket was a handsome naked man who was reaching spots inside of her that no blanket could have ever reached. His penis reached new depths in her nether regions like a submarine exploring uncharted waters, her pleasure heightening with each new crevasse it reached.
The pressure had built up enough that she was on the cusp of climax. Ayumi tossed her head back and let out a scream, and she felt her body rocketing into the air as she climaxed, her entire body convulsing with rapture she never experienced before. At the same time, Masaru was having a similar experience, the screams of his lover vaulting him to heights he had never known before. The energies concentrated in his nether regions, and he shot out a load with force that a battleship firing its cannons would be jealous of.
Masaru and Ayumi collapsed on the couch, giving absolutely no heed to their bodily fluids flowing over each other. They drifted off to sleep, only Masaru awakening half an hour later. He stared at the naked body of the woman he had just slept with, a picture of near perfection sleeping on the couch. He pulled on his clothes and ambled over to the kitchen, spying the custard buns that they both loved so much. He so desperately wanted to eat one. But what would she think, this stranger sleeping with her and then taking one of her beloved buns? Unthinkable.
He wanted to make something for her. Even though he was an accountant by day, he was actually quite a cook by night. Her kitchen was quite bare; she usually got take-out or ate out with her girlfriends. There were some eggs in the fridge, as well as some butter. Flour and sugar were in the cupboards, so she did have the basics. Masaru recalled a trick he had read online once, where pastry could be made by cooking together butter and flour, and then mixing in some eggs. He did just that, making a paste that he then scooped out into balls on a baking sheet, not knowing what else to do with it. The balls of dough baked in the oven for a few minutes until they were nice and brown. Masaru noticed that they had opened up a bit, as if they were hollow inside. Like women desperate to get laid, they seemed to be begging to be filled with something. But what? He stared at the custard buns on the table. Of course, it should be custard!
Since he loved custard as much as the woman he had just banged, Masaru knew how to make a custard from scratch. Eggs, milk, sugar, and some cornstarch were combined, and after cooking them for a bit, he had a beautiful custard that he spooned into the empty pastry shells. From all the commotion and the heavenly scent of baked goods and custard, Ayumi arose from her slumber, only to be faced with these delightful little cream puffs. She opened her mouth, and Masaru popped one of the puffs inside. Her eyes lit up almost as much as when he made her climax. The wonderful combination of soft pastry with the rich custard inside was just heavenly. How could anything be more perfect than this?
OK, so it seems unlikely that he would know how to make choux pastry without putting custard inside. Who would eat that pastry on its own? Well, anyway, here’s a recipe for cream puffs I found here. I used the pastry cream that I always make.
Cream Puffs
Choux Pastry
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
powdered sugar (optional)
Pastry Cream
2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 egg
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Melt the butter and water in a saucepan over low heat.
- Add the flour and salt, and stir until a dough forms.
- Let the mixture cool for 10~15 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until stiff.
- Scoop the dough onto a baking sheet with a spoon or ice cream scoop.
- Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 325F and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat without opening the oven door, and leave the puffs in the oven for 20~30 minutes.
- Make the cream by heating up the milk and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan.
- Mix together the egg yolks, egg, cornstarch, and 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl.
- When the milk comes to a boil, pour it in a thin stream over the egg mixture, constantly stirring the egg mixture so that the eggs don’t scramble.
- Return the whole mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring.
- Once it comes to a boil, take it off the heat, and add in the butter and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.
- When the cream has cooled to room temperature, put it into a piping bag and pipe it into the pastry shells.
- Optionally, sprinkle the filled cream puffs with powdered sugar.
The pastry, before scooping.
The pastry, scooped onto a baking sheet.
My shells are strangely oblong. I could have sworn I made round scoops.
The pastry cream. It’s about to be shoved into those empty shells.
After filling the shells, they look a bit less oblong. I had a bit of a hard time piping, maybe because the pastry cream was too thick.
With powdered sugar on top.
They weren’t as good as Beard Papa’s. The shells were a bit thick for me, but the inside was good. Next time, thinner shells.