This Choux au Craquelin with Salted Caramel Cream features buttery choux pastry topped with a sweet, crunchy cookie crust and filled with a melt-in-your-mouth light, creamy and airy salted caramel filling! This is one of my favorite classic French pastries and it’s as delicious and fancy as it sounds!
All my tips and detailed instructions will help you make the BEST airy, creamy, crisp Choux au Craquelin with Salted Caramel Cream!
Now that I’ve shared with you how to make choux pastry for perfect profiteroles as well as perfect classic eclairs, let’s take it up another notch!
Craquelin topped Salted Caramel Choux Pastry (or Choux au Craquelin with Salted Caramel Filling) is as delicious and fancy as it sounds! It’s only a little step up from classic profiteroles.
But my goal with my series of detailed choux pastry, cream puffs, profiteroles and classic eclair posts is to help you perfect these impressive and decadent French desserts! 🙂
If you’re brand new to choux pastry, then I’d suggest the following in terms of experience level. This is just a suggestion however, and these are all really easy to make once you get the hang of it. I’m hoping my foolproof recipes will help you master each of these with ease!
All levels – Basic guide for making choux pastry + troubleshooting tips.
For beginners – How to make perfect profiteroles and cream puffs.
Intermediate – How to make perfect classic eclairs.
Advanced – How to make choux au craquelin (this post).
The first time I made choux au craquelin was several years ago. I ate them a few years before, and found them to be so thoroughly addictive, so, I wanted to make my own.
That lovely, crackly top takes these cream puffs to a whole new level. And to make these delicious, crunchy choux buns even more luxurious, I filled them with a light and creamy salted caramel filling!
What is choux au craquelin?
Choux au craquelin is a dessert made with choux pastry, and topped with a thin cookie disc called craquelin. The craquelin is made with a mix of butter, sugar and flour – just like a pie crust recipe or sweet shortcrust pastry. In contrast to regular choux pastry buns, craquelin adds a layer of sweetness and makes the cream puff delightfully crunchy.
As the choux pastry bakes and expands, the cookie disc (craquelin) bakes and forms a sweet, crisp, crackly crust on top, enveloping the top of the cream puff.
Can I use different craquelin variations?
While classic craquelin is made with butter, sugar and flour, there are plenty of different variations that you can experiment with. For this choux au craquelin with salted caramel recipe, I used brown sugar for its molassy flavor, and also because the light brown color stands out more on the choux pastry shell. You can use plain white sugar, if you don’t have brown sugar if you want.
Plus, the craquelin helps keep the cream puff crisp for longer, even when it’s filled with a filling.
How to make the craquelin
It’s super simple to make the craquelin. The craquelin is like a delicious, crispy cookie on top of the choux pastry buns, and a fantastic way to decorate the cream puffs.
The dough for this craquelin only has 3 ingredients. First of all, mix the ingredients to form a dough. Secondly, just roll out the dough till it’s nice and thin. Here’s my secret trick to rolling out the dough – I use a ziploc bag and roll out the dough inside it. Less messy, and keeps the dough from sticking everywhere. Plus, it’s easy to store it in the freezer for later too.
If you don’t have ziploc bags, you can roll them out in between two parchment papers to avoid the craquelin from sticking to your rolling pin.
Once the dough frozen, you’re finally ready for the final step. Smaller pastry discs need to be cut out from the frozen dough. Because the dough is frozen, it’s easier to cut out discs from it to top the choux pastry. You can store the craquelin cookie discs in the freezer for later use.
Choux pastry basics
Please read my detailed perfect choux pastry recipe to understand the basics of choux pastry, as well as to troubleshoot any pitfalls.
For this craquelin choux recipe, you need to pipe out choux pastry that’s about 2 inches in diameter, to match the craquelin disc that’s also about 2 inches in diameter.
And be extra mindful when you’re piping the choux, as the pastry bag and tip need to be held upright. This is because if you pipe it at an angle, the choux will rise at an angle as well.
This will make the craquelin on top lopsided. Also, you don’t have to flatten the tip of your piped choux pastry, because you’ll be placing the craquelin on top instead (as shown below).
Two inch choux pastries will give you choux au craquelin that’s about 2.5 – 3 inches in diameter.
If you want smaller craquelin choux pastries, then pipe smaller pastry mounds (about 1.5 inches in diameter), and top them with 1.5 inch craquelin discs. These pastries will end up baking into cases that are between 2 – 2.5 inches in width.
Salted caramel diplomat cream filling
I find this salted caramel diplomat cream absolutely addictive! It’s probably my favorite flavor variation of a classic diplomat cream.
First, I make a dry caramel and dissolve the caramelized sugar in a little liquid. Next, I mix this with more milk, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla and sea salt to make luscious, creamy salted caramel filling.
Once the pastry cream is completely cooled down, it’s mixed with stabilized chantilly cream. Stabilized chantilly cream is simply cream that’s whipped to soft peaks, with a little sugar, vanilla and gelatin.
The chantilly cream lightens the salted caramel pastry cream, and makes for an amazingly melt-in-your-mouth, light filling.
Can I fill these craquelin choux pastries with pastry cream instead?
While you can fill these craquelin choux pastries with salted caramel pastry cream, the pastries are quite large (about 2.5 inches in width). This means filling them all the way with pastry cream would make the cream puffs quite heavy.
This diplomat cream on the other hand is lightened with whipped cream, resulting in a light, fluffy salted caramel filling that is less sweet and has a better mouthfeel. And overall it works better in these pastries.
Why add gelatin to the chantilly cream?
The gelatin acts as a stabilizer for the whipped cream, and in turn acts as a stabilizer for the diplomat cream as well. The filling stays fluffy and creamy, and doesn’t weep or split into liquid. This is really important to keep the choux au craquelin nice and crisp.
Can I make this salted caramel choux pastry ahead of time?
You can make choux pastry cases ahead of time easily. However, keep them unfilled and freeze the unfilled cases in an air-tight container for later. Then allow the pastries to thaw to room temperature before using.
I do prefer to reheat thawed pastry cases slightly in the oven before filling them, to make them crisp again, because freezing can make the craquelin choux cases a little stale. This step is optional however.
You can make the salted caramel diplomat cream up to 4 days ahead of time, so long as you keep it in an air-tight container in the fridge (not freezer).
If you have leftover choux au craquelin with salted caramel cream, you can freeze them for a day or two as well. And when you’re ready to eat them again, just make sure to thaw them out at room temp. for about 30-60 minutes.
Buttery choux pastry topped with a sweet, crunchy, crackly topping and filled with a not too sweet, melt-in-your-mouth light, creamy, airy salted caramel filling. These craquelin choux pastries are absolutely addictive and look really impressive too!
If you liked this Choux au Craquelin with salted caramel recipe (salted caramel choux pastry recipe), don’t forget to subscribe for new (and free) recipes by entering your email address in the subscription box below the recipe card (and get all these recipes delivered straight to your inbox), so you don’t miss out on a thing. You can find me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, YOU TUBE and GOOGLE-PLUS too.
Other recipes you may like to check out
- Perfect profiteroles
- Chocolate eclairs
- Vanilla pastry cream
- Chocolate pastry cream
- Perfect cream puffs
- Chocolate cream puffs
- Best Paris Brest recipe
- Strawberry cream puffs
- Chouquettes recipe
- Chicken puffs (chicken bouchees)
EQUIPMENT I USED FOR THIS RECIPE
Circle cutters for the cookie discs on top
Piping bags – 16 inch piping bags for the choux pastry dough
Large round pastry tip – to pipe the pastry cases. Wilton 1A is about 1/2 inch wide. OR you can get Ateco #Plain 809 which is a little larger than 1/2 inch.
Whisks – A good set of whisks is a must for all of your baking needs.
Hand mixer or Stand Mixer – I currently use KitchenAid
2 x Silpat baking mats (optional) – You can use parchment paper instead too.
2 x Half Sheet pans – Having two makes it easier to bake the craquelin choux pastry. While one is baking, the other tray can cool down and be ready to pipe dough on, and then bake as soon as the other tray is out.
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Craquelin Choux Pastry with Salted Caramel Cream
What You Need:
- See post for detailed list of equipment needed.
Ingredients:
Craquelin (makes enough for 1 ½ batches, so you can freeze the extra for later)
- 115 g unsalted butter 1 stick / ½ cup
- Pinch sea salt
- 130 g light brown sugar about ⅔ cup
- 130 g AP flour about 1⅛ cup
Salted Caramel Diplomat Cream
Salted Caramel Pastry Cream
- 150 g white sugar ¾ cup
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 120 mL warm heavy cream ½ cup. 35% fat content. see notes
- 480 mL whole milk 2 cups
- 40 g cornstarch 4 tbsp
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg please see recipe notes
- 45 g unsalted butter 3 tbsp. Softened
Stabilized Chantilly Cream
- 1 tsp gelatin powder
- 30 mL water 2 tbsp. at room temperature
- 240 mL whipping cream 1 cup. chilled. 35% fat.
- 30 g confectioner’s sugar ¼ cup
- 7 mL vanilla extract 1 ½ tsp
Choux Pastry
- 1 batch Choux pastry baking directions below.
Instructions:
Craquelin (makes enough for 1 ½ batches, so you can freeze the extra for later)
- Place the butter, salt and brown sugar in a bowl and cream the ingredients together until creamy and fluffy.115 g unsalted butter, Pinch sea salt, 130 g light brown sugar
- Add the flour and mix until the mixture looks crumbly. Using your hands, bring the crumbly bits of dough together to form a dough.130 g AP flour
- Split the dough into two equal sized portions, and place each portion inside a 12 x 12 inch ziploc bag. Roll out each piece inside the ziploc bag until it’s about 2 – 3 mm thick. Remove excess air in the ziploc bag and close it. Place both ziploc bags on a flat tray and keep them in the freezer overnight (OR until completely frozen).
Salted Caramel Diplomat Cream
Salted Caramel Pastry Cream (Custard)
- MAKING THE CARAMEL – Sprinkle the sugar over the surface of a stainless steel pan or non-stick pan. Make sure the sugar is sprinkled in a thin layer so that it's easier for it to caramelize, and also make sure there's no water in the pan and on utensils.150 g white sugar
- Heat over medium heat, taking care not to introduce water into the sugar. Stir the sugar as it melts with a heat-proof spatula. The sugar will stick to the spatula, but because it’s non-stick, it’ll come off easily too.
- Continue heating the sugar, while stirring frequently, until the sugar turns into caramel (a golden to amber color) (Please be careful NOT to touch the sugar or the pan as they will be very hot at this point!).
- When the color is amber, add the warm cream into the pan. PLEASE STAND BACK AS YOU ADD THE CREAM AT THIS STAGE, because the pan is extremely hot and you don't want splash back. Stir soon after adding the cream, to dissolve the sugar. This will take a few minutes.120 mL warm heavy cream
- When the caramel has mostly dissolved in the cream, add the rest of the milk, salt, and vanilla into the pan. Heat the milk until it’s nearly boiling, while stirring, to dissolve the rest of the sugar. Now you have a caramel flavored milk base for the custard.½ tsp sea salt, 480 mL whole milk
- While the caramel milk is heating (to dissolve all the caramel), in a separate bowl or small jug, add the eggs, vanilla and cornstarch (cornflour), and whisk until you have a smooth mixture.40 g cornstarch, 3 large egg yolks, 1 large egg, 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- Temper the egg mixture by adding a little of the hot caramel milk in a slow and steady stream, while whisking the eggs constantly. After adding enough caramel milk to warm up the mixture, pour the egg-milk mixture back into the pan with the rest of the caramel milk.
- Heat the egg-caramel milk mixture while whisking/stirring constantly, until the milk starts to thicken. Stir well to make sure the eggs don’t curdle and stick to the bottom and corners of the pan as the custard heats and thickens. I like to switch between a whisk and a spatula to make sure the custard stays smooth while it’s thickening.
- Stir the custard until it comes to a boil (the first big bubble to breakthrough the surface from the custard). When the custard starts to boil, lower the heat and let the custard cook for a further minute while whisking constantly. This will ensure that the cornstarch is heated evenly and thickens the custard properly. Remove the pot from the stove.
- Add the butter to the hot custard and mix until the butter has incorporated into it. Pour the custard into a bowl, and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic wrap is touching the whole surface of the custard.45 g unsalted butter
- Allow the custard to cool down to room temperature, then store it in the fridge for a few hours until chilled, and it’s ready to be mixed with the cream.
Stabilized Chantilly Cream
- Place the water in a small microwave-proof bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface of the water. Allow the gelatin to bloom for about 10 minutes.30 mL water, 1 tsp gelatin powder
- After the gelatin has bloomed, microwave the gelatin for about 10 – 20 seconds to dissolve the gelatin.
- Place the chilled cream in a clean bowl and add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract. Start whisking the cream with a hand mixer at medium-high speed. Pour in the dissolved gelatin while whisking the cream to ensure the gelatin gets mixed in well. Continue whisking until the cream forms soft peaks. Keep in the fridge, covered, until ready to use.240 mL whipping cream, 30 g confectioner’s sugar, 7 mL vanilla extract
Salted Caramel Diplomat Cream
- Place about 2 cups of the salted caramel pastry cream in a large bowl. Add the chantilly cream and fold it into the pastry cream.
- If you’d like more salted caramel flavor, then fold in the rest of the pastry cream as well. Keep covered in the fridge until you’re ready to fill the choux pastries. When you’re ready to fill the cream puffs, transfer the diplomat cream into a pastry bag, that’s attached with a small round tip.
Choux Pastry
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking trays with parchment paper or silpat.
- Take out the craquelin discs and place them on a smooth cutting board. Using a two inch cookie cutter, cut out 2 inch circles from the craquelin (about 22- 24 circles). Keep them on a non-stick surface (parchment paper or silpat), and in the freezer until needed.
- Make 1 batch of choux pastry dough according to the linked recipe, and place the dough in a pastry bag, which is attached with either a ½ inch round tip or ½ inch French star tip.1 batch Choux pastry
- Pipe choux pastry mounds on the silpat (about 2 inches in diameter). Keep the tip upright and pipe out smooth mounds (piping tip touching the dough surface while you pipe). Gently twist and remove the tip when you’re done.
- Carefully place a disc of craquelin on top and gently press it into the choux to make sure it sticks and is stable. (I piped about 12 choux buns on one half sheet pan).
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Do not open the door before the 30 minutes, to prevent the pastries from collapsing.
- After 30 minutes, open the oven door and partially pull out the baking tray. Quickly (but gently), prick each pastry with a sharp toothpick to release any steam inside the pastries. Return the tray back to the oven and bake for a further 5 – 10 minutes, until the pastries are a little darker in color.
- Remove the choux pastries from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes in a draft-free place.
Salted caramel craquelin choux pastry
- Using a round or star tip, cut out a hole in the bottom of each of the cooled choux pastry cases.
- Fill the choux pastries with the salted caramel diplomat cream. Optional step – lightly dust the choux au craquelin with confectioner’s sugar. Serve immediately.
Video:
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
John Doe says
i had saved this recipe and i had written down 3 tbsps of cornstarch but now it says 4 tbsps. Did that change?
Dini says
Hi John
Yes, after more recipe testing to make the salted caramel filling more stable, the amount of cornstarch was increased slightly so that the pastry cream will be thicker and more stable once the whipped cream is folded back in.
You absolutely can still make it with 3 tbsp / 30 g, but the 4 tbsp version makes a slightly thicker pastry cream, that can handle being lightened with the whipped cream and still be pipeable as a filling.
I hope that helps!
BossyB says
The recipe was great and easy to follow. Tried it as a beginner and it turned out great!
Randee says
I love making these and following your recipe. What is the best way to store them?
Carmen Yang says
It took me three days to make this (mainly trying to find the cookie cutters and leaving the cream and craquelin to cool over night). it was the longest time i’ve waited to make desserts.
This was 100% worth the wait, and process. It was not super sweet, or overly soggy. but it was just perfect, and I loved every bit of it.
Laurent says
I have made many choux in my time. Being French, it is a ‘go to’ thing but I have had decidedly odd results sometimes. I am trying yours as well as the craquelin though to be fair that’s pretty standard in terms of what it is. I am doing a croquembouche so I have used 2/3d plain flour and 1/3 strong white to help the strength of the choux. In terms of craquelin I have used demerara sugar (ie cassonade) and cross fingers i will get a result that can withstand being stuck on a cone! Lastly i am going to use your diplomat idea (though i loathe gelatin) but will make a coffee custard instead as well as perhaps a chocolate one…. wish me luck!
Dini says
Good luck Laurent, that sounds delicious! 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions!
Laurent says
So yes success… I have also decided not to do the craquelin circles (too fiddly for me lol) and it worked fine with broken craquelin as long as it covers the choux tops. The flour ratio has produced a sturdier, less prone to collapse chou which is important for me this time. I have had a problem with batch 1 in pricking the pastries as a few collapsed a tad despite being quite golden. I didn’t bother second batch and after 30 mns they were fine and stayed put. Great recipe. Works well, wont look for any other now! Thank you
Susan says
Made the chorus a day in advance and thought I’d perhaps over-baked them slightly but was paranoid about them being ‘soggy’. Kept in airtight box overnight but they are soft this morning!! Will freshen them up in the oven and hope for the best but wondering what I did wrong?
Dini says
Hi Susan
Choux pastry will not retain it’s crispness overnight. It does get soft within a few hours actually.
The only way to re-crisp them is in the oven (as you you have mentioned). That’s why they are best eaten fresh!
That being said, I do make them in advance, but I always re-crisp the empty shells in the oven before filling and serving them as well.
Baking them until they are a darker brown will also help them stay crisp a little longer, but that’s if they will be served fresh.
I hope that helps!
Livia says
Thank you for sharing the recipe. 🙂
I always have some lumps when I put gelatin in the whippcream. I tried may other ways but I still ended up with lumps. Is there any way to solve this problem?
Dini says
Hi Livia
This happens to me too. It takes some practice to get the timing right between adding the gelatin and whipping the cream. The gelatin mix will lump up if it hits the whisks directly (because it sets on the cold whisks), or if you mix it too late into the cream.
I add it directly to the cream but immediately run the whisk through the cream as soon as I add it.
Another option instead of gelatin is to add 1 tbsp of INSTANT vanilla pudding mixture to 1 cup of heavy cream instead of the gelatin. I personally don’t like the artificial vanilla flavor, but it does stabilise the whipped cream really well!
I hope that helps!
Luminita says
Hi for gelatin do not make lumps in the cream after you melt it in the microwave for 10 seconds and let it cool put a spoon of whipped cream and mix it so you temper the gelatine and after add it to the rest of cream you shouldn’t have lumps after that’s how I do it
Gie says
Can I use white sugar instead of brown sugar for the Craquelin? Cuz I want to make it color pink…
Dini says
Hi Gie
Yes, you can use white sugar instead of brown sugar
Hope that helps
Emma says
What do I do if I don’t have a microwave?
Dini says
Hi Emma
You can dissolve the gelatin in the smallest pot you own on a stove. But you have to still be careful not to let the water boil, and only heat to dissolve the gelatin.
Hope that helps
Melissa says
I’m actually in the process of making this now and I just realized I never put in the whole egg just the three egg yolks do I need to start over ??? The custard is done at this point.
Dini says
Hi Melissa
It should be fine. The pastry cream might be a little softer, but if it’s not too soft after being chilled, the outcome should be fine.
Hope that helps.
Deidre says
I’ve made this many times and always have had great results. I’m wondering if I can make the caramel pastry cream a day or two early?
Dini says
Hi Deidre
I’m glad that you like this recipe! 🙂
You can make the pastry cream about 2 days before and keep it in the fridge. But add the whipped cream on the day.
You can add the whipped cream even the night before, but the gelatin will set, and you will need to rewhisk it to make the mixture pipeable.
I hope that helps!
Emma Tyler says
This is one of my new favorite recipes!! It’s not as difficult as it looks, and made choux buns just as good as the ones I’ve had in Paris. So delicious!!
Dini says
Yay, I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Emma! 🙂
Natalie says
I have a salted caramel recipe that I already use. Can I use my premodern caramel and add that to the other ingredients for the cream?
Dini says
Hi Natalie
It’s hard for me to be sure if it’s a good substitute because I don’t know the consistency of the premade caramel, or how much of it you would need to use.
You can try, but I can’t guarantee the same results and taste as the recipe that I have provided. To make sure you get the right consistency I would recommend using the recipe though.
Hope that helps.