PB and Banoffee Choux aux Craquelin

Instructions

• Peanut Butter Caramel: Melt 1/2 cup brown sugar with 2 tbsp butter, honey and 1/4 tsp salt in a medium saucepan over medium. Stir in 1/3 cup cream until smooth. Increase heat to high. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 min, then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until combined. Let stand until completely cooled, then scrape mixture into a sealed container. Refrigerate until ready to use (up to 1 week).

• Banana Diplomat Cream: Combine milk with vanilla bean paste in a medium saucepan over medium. Bring to a simmer, then remove from heat. Set aside for 30 min.

• Whisk 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup brown sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add egg yolks. Whisk vigorously until mixture is thickened and lightened in colour, about 90 sec. Continue whisking while slowly pouring in a ladle of milk mixture in a thin, steady stream. Continue with ladles, whisking until all is incorporated. Pour egg mixture back into saucepan and set over medium. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, stopping to check for bubbles regularly. Boil, whisking constantly, 2 min. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tbsp butter until combined. Push pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, using the bottom of the ladle. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the cream and let stand to cool to room temperature. Transfer to refrigerator and chill until firm, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

• To finish diplomat cream, sprinkle gelatin over 2 tbsp water in a small microwave-safe bowl. Let stand for 5 min. Microwave on low until just dissolved, about 15 sec.

• Beat 1/2 cup cream in a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, until soft peaks form. While beating, pour in dissolved gelatin mixture. Beat until stiff peaks form.

• Stir chilled pastry cream to loosen, then fold in mashed banana followed by whipped cream. Cover again with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

• Craquelin: Beat 1/2 cup unsalted butter with a wooden spoon in a small bowl until smooth, about 1 min. Add 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar. Stir for 2 min. Stir in 1 cup flour and 1/8 tsp salt until combined. Turn dough out onto a large piece of parchment. Place a second piece of parchment on top. Roll into a 1/8-in.-thick rectangle. Transfer, with parchment intact, to a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs, up to overnight.

• Remove top parchment from chilled craquelin. Using a 2-in. round cookie cutter, cut out 24 rounds. Remove excess craquelin. (Excess can be frozen up to three months for another batch.) Return rounds to fridge until needed.

• Pastry: Have an instant-read thermometer at the ready. Combine 1/2 cup cubed unsalted butter with 2 tsp granulated sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1 cup plus 2 tbsp water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high. Cook until butter has melted and the liquid is boiling, about 2 min. Remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in 1 ⅓ cups flour until no lumps remain. Return to stovetop over medium-high. Cook, stirring often, until dough starts to leave a thin, hazy film on bottom of pan and comes together in a ball, registering 175F on the thermometer.

• Scrape dough into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Using the back of the spoon, spread dough across the interior of the bowl and let cool for 1 min. Turn machine to medium speed and stir until dough cools to 145F.

• Beat in beaten eggs, about one-quarter at a time, making sure each addition is fully combined before adding more, scraping down sides of the bowl and beaters periodically. (Hold back a little of the egg when almost finished and check the dough. It should be a shiny, smooth paste, and when beater is lifted, dough should hang in a V-shape from the tip without falling. If it seems stiff, add the rest of the egg and beat until fully mixed.) Scrape into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-in. plain tip.

• Position racks in top and bottom thirds of oven, then preheat to 400F. Line two heavy baking sheets (i.e., not thin cookie pans) with parchment. Using the 2-in. round cookie cutter as a guide, trace 12 evenly spaced circles on each piece of parchment with a pencil. Flip over parchment, tacking down corners with small dollops of dough.

• Hold pastry bag perpendicular to parchment. Pipe choux paste into 24 mounds in the traced circles. Top each mound with a chilled round of craquelin, pressing down slightly, so the disc is parallel to the counter.

• Place sheets in oven, then reduce heat to 375F. Bake for 22 min, then rotate sheets front to back and top to bottom. Continue baking until choux are impressively puffed, deeply golden and feel light for their size, 7 to 8 min more. Using a toothpick, prick each puff in a discreet spot to release any trapped steam. Turn off oven. Leave puffs to cool in oven, with door partially open, for 30 min. Then remove from oven to cool completely.

• Assembly: Loosen caramel gently in microwave before using (it should be pourable, but no warmer than room temperature). Scrape into a piping bag fitted with a plain tip. Scrape diplomat cream into another piping bag fitted with a plain or Bismarck tip. Pierce bottom of choux with the bag filled with cream. Fill halfway, then pipe in a bit of caramel. Then continue with cream. Repeat with remaining choux.

• Decoration: Dry cherries well on paper towels or a lint-free kitchen towel. If gilding, tap 1⁄4 tsp glitter into a small bowl, then carefully roll each cherry to coat, adding more glitter as needed. Set aside. Microwave candy melts in a small microwave-safe bowl on medium-high at 20-sec intervals, stirring after each, until just melted. Let stand to cool slightly.

• Assembly: Dollop a spoonful of candy melts on top of pastry, then gently press in a cherry. Tuck in a banana chip and dust with crushed peanuts and gold glitter, if desired. Let stand for 10 min before serving.