CREAM PUFF CHRISTMAS TREE RECIPES

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, bring water and butter to a boil over medium heat. Add flour and salt; stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny., Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2-in. apart onto greased baking sheets. (You will need about 62 puffs to make the tree.) Use a moistened finger to smooth any peaks., Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool., For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar and rum extract if desired until stiff peaks form., Insert round tip #7 into a pastry or resealable plastic bag; fill with the whipped cream. With a sharp knife, cut a small slit in the side of each puff. Insert pastry tip into slits; fill each puff with whipped cream. Refrigerate for up to 2 hours., For icing, combine confectioners' sugar and enough cream to achieve desired consistency. Stir in food coloring if desired., To assemble tree: Separate puffs according to size and shape, choosing the flattest ones for the bottom layer and the smallest ones for the top. Spread the bottom of 18 puffs with icing. Place on the serving platter, forming a 9-in.-diameter solid circle. , For the second layer, spread icing on the bottoms of 18 puffs, then position above the space of the base layer of puffs. , Continue building tree in this manner using about 14 puffs in third layer, about seven puffs in fourth layer, about four puffs in fifth layer and one puff on top., To decorate: Insert round tip #7 into a pastry or resealable plastic bag and fill with remaining icing. Drizzle over tree. Trim with cherries if desired., The completed tree may be loosely covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 2 hours. Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Steps:

• Pour the water into a saucepan.
• Add the butter, sugar, and salt and bring to a boil.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour, stirring continuously avoiding lumps.
• Place the pot back on low heat and stir vigorously slamming the mixture with a wooden spoon, until the dough combines and begins to come away from the sides of the pot (you will see a white film on the walls of the pot).
• Preheat the oven to 400°F (200° C)
• Add the eggs one by one to the cool mixture and mix well before adding the additional eggs, one at a time.
• Spoon the dough into a "sac a poche" (pastry bag) and pipe the desired shape onto the baking sheet.
• Then with a damp finger, flatten the apex.
• Bake until the choux pastry shells puff up and are golden brown on top (35-40 minutes).
• Fill the puff creams from the bottom first with the pistachio cream and then with ricotta cream, being careful to keep the cream inside of the choux pastry meaning don’t fill it up too much to the point where the cream is dripping out.
• Mix the eggs with the sugar.
• Beat the mixture in a mixer for 15-20 minutes at medium speed.
• Add the sifted flour and starch potatoes with a spatula from the bottom to the top to obtain a homogeneous consistency.
• Put the mixture into the cake pan (24 cm in diameter - 9-inches round and 1 1/2 inch deep) properly greased and lightly floured.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (356°F) for about 40-50 minutes, never open the oven before 35 minutes.
• Do the toothpick test to check cooking, insert it in centers, and has to come out clean.
• After the time necessary to allow it to cool and remove it from the mold.
• Allow the sponge cake to cool completely before slicing.
• Cut the cake into two layers and soak them with the orange lemon syrup.
• Pipe ¼ of ricotta cream on the soaked bottom layer.
• Cover with the other soaked layer and frost with the other ¼ ricotta cream over the top and the sides of the cake.
• Mix the ricotta with the sieved sugar.
• Combine it with whipped cream to obtain a soft and silky cream.
• Divide the mixture into two equal parts, which are to be used for the sponge cake and to fill the choux pastries.
• Blend the pistachios with the sugar in a blender until you get a paste, add half the milk, and continue to blend them.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter and the chopped chocolate over low heat in the remaining milk.
• Remove from the heater and add the pistachio paste and mix everything together.
• Add the pistachio paste and mix everything together.
• Then with a hand mixer, blend everything until you get a smooth and homogeneous cream.
• Mix the soft butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar very well with the electric whisk.
• Then add the egg whites, always mixing with the whisk, and when the mixture is well amalgamated add the sieved flour.
• Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350°F).
• Prepare greaseproof paper disks :1 of 10 cm (4 inches) diameter, 2 of 16 cm (6.5 inches), and 1 of 22 cm ( 9 inches).
• Spread evenly the mixture over each disk to cover it.
• Cook in the preheated oven for 6-8 minutes.
• Let them cool down.
• Prepare the fresh orange and lemon juices (you need 4 oranges and 2 lemons) and set them aside.
• In the meantime, put the sugar water in a saucepan and place it on the stove.
• Make sure the heat is low and mix the sugar and water solution until it comes to a boil.
• When you notice that the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture has thickened, turn off the heat.
• Add the orange juice and continue stirring and let it cool.
• In a thick-bottomed saucepan, pour the sugar and then cover the sugar in water and lemon juice.
• Stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar, then put it over medium heat without stirring, if you see that the sugar sticking to the bottom, swirl the saucepan.
• As soon as the sugar reaches an amber color, turn off and immerse the saucepan in cold water to cool it down.
• Take the cake and place it on a cake stand.
• Dip the stuffed beignets in the caramel,
• it will serve as a binder between one cream puff and another and give it that crystallized effect.
• Arrange 8 beignets on the cake in a circular shape and one in the center, choose almost all of them of the same size and height.
• And then I placed the disc with a diameter of 9 inches on the 8 puff creams.
• For an easier visual description here is how I arranged them fromtop to bottom:
• 1 puff cream
• Disk- 4 inches
• 3 puff creams
• Disk- 6.5 inches
• 4 puff creams
• Disk- 6.5 inches
• 6 puff creams
• Disk- 9 inches
• 8 puff creams
• cake