These gorgeous Dulce de Leche Cream Puffs are filled with dulce de leche cream, dipped in thick, shiny dark chocolate glaze, then drizzled with more dulce de leche!
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
Combine water, milk, sugar, salt, and butter in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. While still on the heat, add the flour. Quickly beat mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth and shiny. Mixture will pull away from the sides of the pan. (Do not underbeat or cream puffs may deflate later!)
Once mixture is thoroughly combined, scrape it into the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn the mixer on low speed. With mixer running, add eggs one a time, allowing each egg to incorporate and mixture to become smooth before adding the next.
Transfer batter to a pastry bag and cut a hole in the end (about ⅓" across). Pipe mounds of choux pastry at least 2" apart, each about 2" across and ¾" tall (see notes). With those dimensions, you get about 24 cream puffs.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and turn the oven off. Bake 10 minutes with the oven off. Turn oven back on to 350 F and bake another 10 minutes. Then, turn the oven off again, leaving the cream puffs to finish baking for another 10 minutes (This is 30 minutes in the oven total). Resist the urge to open the oven until baking is complete, as this could deflate your cream puffs!.
Once the cream puffs are baked, remove from the oven and poke a hole in the top of each with a toothpick. This will allow any residual steam to escape (otherwise, your cream puffs could deflate...sensing a trend here?). Allow cream puffs to cool completely.
For Cream:
Combine cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste (see note) in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat mixture on medium-high speed until peaks are formed.
Spoon dulce de leche into a medium bowl. Add the whipped cream mixture ⅓ at a time, taking care to fold the mixture to maintain its light texture.
Place the dulce de leche cream into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip (I used a #7). Using the tip, poke a small hole in the bottom of each cream puff and fill with the cream.
For Ganache:
Place chocolate and cream in a small heatproof bowl. Place in the microwave on 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth. Mixture will be thick and glossy.
Dip the tops of each of the filled cream puffs in the ganache. Allow to set.
For Drizzle:
Place dulce de leche in a small heatproof bowl and microwave on 15-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until warm and smooth.
Place warmed dulce de leche in a pastry bag or zip-top bag with a cut corner. Drizzle the dulce de leche over each filled/glazed cream puff.Enjoy!
Notes
Note on vanilla bean paste: It's no secret that I love vanilla bean paste. It's soooo tasty without the vanilla bean price tag (and it pretty much stays good forever). If you prefer to substitute, you could use 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. If you'd like to get some vanilla bean paste and you can't find it in your local grocery store (I never can), you can find some here.Notes on piping choux pastry: Choux mounds should be at least 2" apart on the baking sheet. If they're too close together, the steam that escapes while baking could cause them to deflate.I give a suggested dimension for the mounds (2" across by ¾" tall), but it's more important that they're all uniform in size rather than meeting these specific dimensions. Just be aware that bigger choux mounds will take more time to bake, and smaller ones will be done sooner.When piping the choux, I found that if you hold the bag straight up and stay in the center as you squeeze the piping bag, you end up with a more uniform (round) shape.