hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to Hawaiian comfort food classics with a shot at the elaborately delicate matcha cream puff, found at the legendary Liliha bakery in Honolulu, Hawaii. My personal favorite since I was a kid has always been their matcha cream puffs, which are puffy bites of pastry that are light, airy, bite sized, and basically like popping a delicious fluffy cloud into your mouth.
For those not familiar, a cream puff is a pastry concept of French origin which uses the french Choux (shoo) pastry dough to create a light and hollow bite of pastry. Then we’re gonna fill the pastry up a whipped cream that’s mixed with an east Asian powdered green tea known as matcha, which of course, gives our cream puff its vibrant green color and floral sweet taste. Then finally since this is Hawaiian food and excess is pretty much a requirement in Hawaiian cuisine, we’re also going to top our puff with even matcha cream as well. Cause you know. I mean, why not? Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS (matcha cream, dry)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp matcha powder
2 tbsp corn starch
pinch kosher salt
INGREDIENTS (matcha cream, wet)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
INGREDIENTS (choux pastry)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tbsp white sugar
pinch kosher salt
1 cup milk
1 cup AP flour
4 eggs
PREP
COMBINE all dry matcha ingredients, set aside
COMBINE all matcha wet ingredients except for the egg yolks, set aside
COMBINE all choux pastry ingredients except for the eggs and flour, set aside
ON THE STOVE
SIMMER the matcha wet ingredients over low heat, then fold in the matcha dry ingredients
GRADUALLY add the egg yolks to the saucepan, and whisk constantly until a thick cream forms
COVER the matcha cream with plastic wrap with the air pressed out within the container, then refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight
SIMMER the choux pastry mixture over low heat, then add the AP flour a tbsp at a time, whisking constantly
REMOVE from heat and gradually add the eggs to the choux pastry until a creamy dough forms
ADD the choux to a pastry bag with a 5/8 inch tip, then pipe in a circular motion onto a parchment paper lined sheet tray
BAKE at 375F for 20 minutes, then remove and let cool
ADD the matcha cream to a pastry bag with a fine tip attached
CUT a small hole in the bottom of the puff, then pipe in the matcha cream
OPTIONALLY add matcha cream on top of the puff pastry