May 15, 2022 - 6:22pm
Croissants filled with pastry cream - how to make?
Hello all,
How do I fill a croissant with pastry cream? I mean it needs space, like a cavity to fill. Do I need to try to bake a hollow croissant (assuming that's even possible), or does the honeycomb network start to break when cream is piped in through a hole? We have a local French-style bakery that sells cream filled croissants and they are just the most perfect crunchy-flaky on the outside with the perfect amount of cream on the inside croissant. I want to make something like that (assuming I will ever get the proper honeycomb structure in my croissants, currently they look more like brioche, but I already got some ideas on technique from the many wonderful posts and replies on here).
Thank you!
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Learn croissant making first. When you have some skill with croissants, you will find they naturally result in a honeycomb crumb structure.
To fill, using a Bismark piping tip used for eclairs and the filling of your choice.
https://youtu.be/DF9rvGm9fZ4
Yippee
Thank you. I saw this video, but it doesn’t narrate the technique and it doesn’t answer my question whether the croissant needs to be hollow inside or if the honeycomb web simply breaks once cream is being piped in. Based on the video I assume it’s the latter, but who knows.
A pastry tube to fill? There are pastry tubes sold in sets that one wraps strips of puff pastry dough around. The pastry and tubes are baked. The steel tubes are slightly larger at one end so they slide out easier from the baked pastry. Filled when pastry is cool. > Link <
Getting filling into a croissant is unlikely to be as easy as filling cream puffs. I think you’d be better off wrapping your pastry cream in the dough before proofing and baking. I make a pastry I call pappillons with squares of croissant dough I press into muffin tins then fill with an uncooked cream cheese custard before baking. Cooked pastry creams would work as well. Maybe instead of croissant shapes you go for simpler turnover or roll up shapes. Pretty sure that this is how cheese or almond danish are done.
Good luck,
Phil
Reporting back on how to fill a croissant. I used a Bismarck tip, poked two holes in the top (to fill both sides), and was able to get lots and lots of cream inside pretty easily (and I didn’t even have a very open crumb structure - had a good batch once, but I’m struggling with reproducibility).