Had a Bad Day

(Sing this to the tune “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter)

“Cause you had a bad day

You seek Alton Brown

You make some cream puffs just to turn it around

You say you don’t know

You tell me to try

You work at a smile and you’re so surprised

Not such a bad day

Not such a bad day”

Besides talking to Boyfriend, whose lips are sealed tighter than the highest security vault and whose ears are never sickened by my perpetual word vomit, I resort to cooking as my stress therapy, especially when he is busy 😛

Another default feel good food are creamy buttery pastries of French descent known as cream puffs or profiteroles. When I was younger my family would go to these Filipino parties, and there would be Titos throwing back beers or smoking and Titas gossiping (chismosas) and trying to sell each other cubic zirconia jewelry pieces. Even though I would enjoy going to these parties because all of the kids would separate into our little groups and go on pretend adventures or play tag or hide and go seek or babysit the younger kids so their parents could eat, I always looked forward to what food would be at the party. Typically Filipino desserts were present – cassava cake, leche flan, puto, kutsinta,- but sometimes, there were these little heavenly puffs of cream inside an eggy-crunchy-sweet husk drizzled with chocolate. I liked those. A lot. I even asked my mom to invite the lady who made them to my birthday party every year just to ensure I would get to eat them at least once.

Who knew they were relatively simple to make?  Not me! Oh yeah, I threw in some purple Asiasn flavor for that extra comfort feeling 🙂 Also according to something somewhere, today is national cheesecake day. I didn’t actually make these mini cheesecakes today, but I will include them in this post to commemorate!

Mini Cheesecakes

Crust

• 1 cup crumbled cookies (crumbs)
• 2 tbsp butter (melted)
• 1/8 cup sugar

Combine all ingredients together and use your fingers to push the crust into your pie plate or mini springform pan(s).

Filling

• 2 packages of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp ube extract (or other flavor)

Cream the first two ingredients together until smooth and then add the eggs one at time. Add the extract last and mix well. Fill your crust about 3/4 of the way full with filling. Make sure to smooth out the top of the cheesecake to ensure a level product. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20-30 minutes or just until set. Let it cool to room temperature. Note: it is normal for the entire cheesecake to rise and fall after cooling. If the middle sinks in, the cheesecake was not finished baking.

Topping

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/8 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp macapuno syrup (sweet coconut)
• macapuno balls

Whip the first three ingredients together until stiff peaks form. Place into piping bag and decorate your cheesecakes (once cooled). I used the macapuno balls for extra coconut flavor and texture variety. Refrigerate until ready to serve!

Cream Puffs

Choux Pastry

• 1 cup water
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup and 3 tbsp flour
• 4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Bring water, butter, and salt together to a boil in a pot. Add the flour and remove the pot from the heat. Mix the ingredients until a dough is formed. Return to the heat until a ball of dough is formed. Place ball of dough into a bowl to rest/cool for 3-4 minutes.

3. Using dough hooks, add an egg, one at a time, until fully incorporated into the dough. The dough may appear too runny at times, but before adding the next egg, make sure the dough comes together again.

4. Once smooth, transfer the dough into a piping bag. I found that no tip worked well. Pipe mounds of the dough onto parchment paper (whatever size you prefer – I did about a little smaller than a golf ball.)

5. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F an bake for 10 minutes again.

6. Alton says to pierce each pastry immediately after baking to let out steam, but I did/didn’t, and they all turned out perfect!

Creme

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp ube extract (or any flavor extract)

Whip all creme ingredients together until less than stiff peaks form. I recommend whipping the cream cheese and sugar first, and then adding the other ingredient to ensure a smooth cream.

Fill a pastry bag with a star tip (or no tip) with the creme and fill each pastry with creme. You can also slice the pastry in half (horizontally) leaving a hinge to connect the top and bottom pieces and fill with creme.

Not such a bad day 🙂

❤ The Food Scientist