Heart Puff Pastries with Ice Cream & Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, in slices
1 cup + 3 tablespoons bread or all purpose flour*
4 large eggs + 1 egg white
Ice Cream
2 1/4 cup milk
1 cup Dixie Crystals Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
2 cups whipping cream
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache or Sauce

*Spoon & Sweep method: Use a spoon to fill measuring cup with flour until required amount is obtained. Scooping measuring cup directly into flour bag will firmly pack flour resulting in too much flour required for recipe.

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Grab a 2-2 ½ inch diameter heart shaped cookie cutter or if you don't have one, draw a heart on a piece of cardboard and cut it out.
Using a pencil outline heart shapes on parchment paper leaving 2-3 fingers of space in between. Flip over the parchment paper to ensure that batter will not touch pencil residue. Set aside.
In a saucepan large enough to hold all ingredients bring milk, water, salt, sugar and butter to a boil.
Remove boiling mixture from heat source and rapidly stir in flour with a wooden or heat resistant rubber spatula.
Return mixture to the heat source and stir over heat for 2 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball and leaves a dough type of film on bottom of pan.
Remove from heat. Incorporating eggs can be done using a stand mixer or hand held mixer. Either drop batter in a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment or in a regular bowl.
Mix in eggs and egg white one at a time waiting for previous added egg to be fully incorporated. Mix until mixture is smooth and shiny.
Fill a piping bag with a plain tip of approximately 1/4-inch diameter. Pipe batter evenly into heart drawings. Alternatively spoon batter into shape 1/4-inch thick.
Bake at 400°F until very dry and crisp and deep golden. Do not underbake as this will cause puffs to collapse. When you believe they are done, take one puff out oven and feel sides, it should feel crisp. Let sit for a 3-4 minutes, if it does not collapse, remove others from oven.
For ice cream: Combine milk with sugar and return to refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to ensure that sugar will fully dissolve. Remove from refrigerator and add cream, salt and vanilla. Churn according to ice cream maker directions.
Place churned ice cream in pre-chilled bowl in freezer until ready to use.
Split heart puffs horizontally in half. Dip top halves in warm chocolate sauce or spoon chocolate sauce over hearts once filled with ice cream.
Place ice cream on bottom halves and top with other half.

Dixie Crystals Insight

Cream puffs can be made days ahead of your special occasion. Once baked place in freezer bags and defrost at room temperature when needed. Once defrosted place them in 400°F oven for 4 minutes to make them crisp again and you are all set to fill with crème Chantilly or homemade ice cream.

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