Caramel větrníky

Větrníky with vanilla pudding cream, caramel whipped cream and caramel glaze. About 24 medium pieces.

Ingredients

• Choux pastry: 250 ml water
• 100 g butter
• a pinch of salt
• 160 g flour
• 4–5 eggs (room temperature), whisked, added gradually
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• Vanilla pudding cream: 400 ml milk
• 1 sachet vanilla pudding powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 250 ml whipping cream (33%), whipped stiff
• Caramel whipped cream: 150 g sugar
• 250 ml whipping cream (33%), cold, plus a splash more to deglaze
• a pinch of salt
• Caramel glaze: 125 g sugar
• 45 g butter
• 75 ml whipping cream
• optional: 3–4 tablespoons of the reserved caramel cream, thinned with a little icing sugar

Method

1. Bring the water, butter and salt to a boil. Remove from the heat, add all the flour at once, stir vigorously, then return to low heat 2–3 minutes until the dough pulls into a ball and a thin film forms on the pot bottom.
2. Spread the dough around the sides of a mixing bowl to cool it quickly. Once only warm (not hot — eggs will scramble), beat in the whisked eggs a little at a time on low speed. Stop when the dough falls off a spoon in a thick “V” — you may not need all the egg. Fold in the baking powder last.
3. Pipe 4–5 cm rounds onto baking paper with a large star tip, spaced well apart. Bake at 200–220 °C for 10 minutes, then reduce to 170–180 °C for another 15–20 minutes until deep golden and firm. Do not open the oven door during baking — the buns will collapse. Cool completely before filling.
4. Cook the pudding with the milk and sugar per the packet; cool completely (press cling film onto the surface). Fold in the whipped cream once both are cold.
5. Melt the sugar dry in a pan (no stirring, just swirl) until deep amber. Off the heat, carefully pour in a splash of the cream — it will bubble violently — then stir in the rest and a pinch of salt. Cool completely, chill several hours or overnight, then whip to stiff peaks. Reserve 3–4 tablespoons for the glaze.
6. Caramelize the glaze sugar the same way, remove from the heat, stir in the butter then the cream until smooth and glossy. Cool until it coats the back of a spoon but is still pourable.
7. Slice each cooled bun horizontally, keeping the top as a cap. Pipe a base of vanilla pudding cream, a swirl of caramel whipped cream on top, replace the cap and dip or spoon the caramel glaze over. Chill at least 2 hours before serving so the layers set.

Add eggs to the choux only once it has cooled to warm, and add them gradually — flour absorbs liquid differently batch to batch, so judge doneness by texture, not by using all the egg.

Never open the oven while baking. Make the caramel cream a day ahead so it has time to firm up enough to whip.