Croissants Stuffed with Pastry Cream, Fresh Berries & Chocolate
Buttery, flaky croissants filled with pastry cream, fresh berries and chocolate ganache.
- Yield: 2
Ingredients
Croissants
- 2 large fresh croissants or 4 small ones
Ganache
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups good quality chocolate, chopped
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 large whole egg
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon butter, unsalted
- 1 scraped vanilla bean seeds
2 cups sliced strawberries
Chocolate sauce for drizzle
Instructions
- Make the ganache by putting half of the chocolate pieces in a glass bowl. Heat the cream over medium heat just until it starts to get bubbles around the edges. Immediately remove it from the heat and pour it over the chocolate pieces. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then stir slowly.
- As you stir, gradually add the rest of the chocolate pieces until they are all melted and the mixture is emulsified. This takes about 2 minutes. You want it super smooth and shiny. Allow to cool to a thicker form but still spreadable (but not pourable).
- Make the pastry cream by stirring together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar in a heavy sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg. Stir together the 1/3 cup of sugar and cornstarch until incorporated. Add them into the eggs until smooth.
- When the milk comes to a boil, SLOWLY drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while whisking nonstop so that you do not cook the eggs. Once all added, return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don’t curdle or scorch on the bottom. Once the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill for at least 1 hour before using.
- To assemble slice each croissant in half. Carefully smooth on about 3 tablespoon of ganache on to the bottom portion of the ganache. Next, add a layer of pastry cream (you can either spread it on or pipe it on). On top of that place a layer of strawberries.
- At this point you can replace the top of the croissant or you can add another layer of pastry cream and another layer of berries (just don’t make the layers though too thick). Place the top of the croissant on top and drizzle chocolate sauce on top. Store in the fridge, covered loosely with plastic wrap if not serving immediately.