Grandma Honey’s Cream Puffs

INGREDIENTS
Pâte à Choux Pastry
1 cup water
½ cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
4 eggs

Custard Filling
½ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
4 egg yolks (or 2 eggs), beaten
2 tsp vanilla (or other flavoring)

Chocolate Icing
1 square unsweetened chocolate (1 oz)
1 tsp butter
1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
2 tbsp boiling water

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DIRECTIONS
Pâte à Choux Pastry
Preheat oven to 400º.  In saucepan, bring water and butter to a rolling boil.  Add flour in one installment; stir vigorously over medium heat until mixture no longer sticks to the side of the pan and forms a ball (about 1 minute).  Remove from heat.  By hand, beat in eggs, one at a time.  Beat until mixture is smooth and velvety.  Drop from spoon onto an ungreased baking sheet.¹  Bake until dry (approximately 45-50 minutes).  Allow to cool slowly.  Makes eight puffs.

Cut cooled pastries, fill with Custard Filling and ice with Chocolate Icing.

Custard Filling
In a saucepan, mix sugar, salt, and flour; stir in milk.  Stir over medium heat until mixture boils; boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir a little more than half of this mixture into beaten egg yolks.  Blend into hot mixture and bring just to boiling point.  Cool and blend in vanilla.

Chocolate Icing
Over a double boiler, melt together chocolate and butter.  Remove from double boiler; blend in sugar and water.  Stir until smooth but not stiff.

Notes:
¹ For Éclairs, place pâte à choux pastry dough in a pastry bag and pipe 12 fingers approximately 1-inch wide and 4-inches long.  Bake as above; fill with custard and frost with chocolate icing.