Growing up, my family didn’t really celebrate Easter but I did get to participate in the easter egg hunt that was organized at our local mall and with enough persistence my mom would let me buy the 12-pack of mini easter cupcakes from the grocery store. The fact that easter wasn’t a big deal in my family didn’t deter me from developing my love for decorated bunny cookies, excitement every time the grocery stores start building their mini eggs display, and doing a lot of easter baking for family and friends.
In the previous years, I’ve focused on decorated sugar cookies, all in pastel hues and shapes of cute farm animals and eggs. This year, however, I decided to make easter extra special with the help of my friends at Williams Sonoma Canada. Williams Sonoma Canada has the sweetest easter shop in stores and online right now filled with Peter Rabbit serveware and treats, a large selection of candies and sweets, as well as spring-themed bakeware. I picked out a several things from the shop including this amazing Victorian-inspired tiered stand for a special easter-themed afternoon tea party for my family. In additional to the classic decorated easter cookies, I also made mini egg rice cereal treats, macaroons with pastel unicorn sprinkles, bunny cupcakes, and the highlight of this display — carrot cake cream puffs.
These cream puffs take everything I love about a classic carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (arguably the best part of any carrot cake) and packages it nicely inside choux pastry. Golden choux pastry with craquelin is filled with a spiced pastry cream (I contemplated making a carrot pasty cream but a few friends I consulted with were turned off by that idea), topped with a velvet whipped cream cheese white chocolate ganache, and studded with chunks of carrot cake. There are several components to this recipe, and if you want to cut down on your prep, I would recommend that you make the fillings on the day prior you want to serve the puffs or buy a small piece of carrot cake from your favourite bakery to garnish these puffs. I added a touch of edible gold leaf on top of each puff because these puffs deserve it.
Here are some things to keep in mind when organizing the perfect easter afternoon tea party:
Plan what you are baking a few days in advance
Do you have all the ingredients that you will need? If you are baking several types of cookies and pastries, can you start the prep work the previous day? When I know I have to do different recipes, I like to organize the recipes into two categories: can be baked ahead of time (think: cookies, macaroons, rice cereal treats) and must be baked the day of (cream puffs, some cakes). I love starting on easter cookies in advance because the royal icing decorations will need to dry for several hours or overnight. If I am making cake or cream puffs, I like to start the buttercreams and fillings the day before and keep it in an airtight container, so it stays fresh for when I need to frost the cake.
Don’t be afraid to buy other baked goods and sweets to add to your display!
Never feel like you have to make everything you serve! I love adding tartlets and mini croissants from my favourite bakery to any afternoon tea spread. Especially when I know that the bakery will make a much better croissant than me. Alternatively, you can divide the baking duties between you and family members or friends. Perhaps your friend has the best chocolate chip cookie recipe and I’m sure she will be more than happy to contribute to the tea party.
You don’t have to only served baked goods
Adding other treats like chocolates and candies add variety in flavours and textures. I love adding good quality, seasonal chocolates to any festive display. Here are some items that I love from the Williams Sonoma easter shop:
Williams Sonoma Chocolate Malt Ball Eggs
Williams Sonoma Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Eggs
Médicis Almonds
Presentation makes a big difference!
I love collecting serveware so I will always have the perfect dish or serving tray for the occasion. For this easter afternoon tea party, I used:
Pillivuyt Eclectique 3-Tiered Stand
Pressed Flower Napkins
Carrot Cake Cream Puffs with Cream Cheese White Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Spiced Pastry Cream
- 240 ml (1 cup) whole milk
- 240 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 large egg yolks
- 50 g (1/4) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Whipped Cream Cheese White Chocolate Ganache
- 240 ml (1 cup) heavy cream
- 130 g (3/4 cup) white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 120 g (1 cup) cream cheese, room temperature
Craquelin
- 25 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 25 g (2 tbsp) brown sugar
- 25 g (4 tbsp) all-purpose flour
Pâte à Choux
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) water
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) whole milk
- 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 57 g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 70 g (1/2 cup and 2 tbsp) all-purpose flour
- 110 g (~2 1/2) large eggs, lightly beaten
Carrot Cake
- 60 g (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 75 g (1/4 cup) crushed pineapple
- 20 g (1/4 cup) unsweetened shredded coconut
- 55 g (1/2 cup) grated carrots
Instructions
Spiced Pastry Cream
- Combine milk and cream in a small saucepan. Using a sharp knife, split vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out seeds. Add bean and seeds to milk mixture. Add cinnamon. Place over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.
- Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch, in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Slowly pour hot milk mixture over egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
- Return mixture to saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 6 – 8 minutes, or until custard thickens and coats the back of a metal spoon.
- Transfer the custard into a large bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the custard (to prevent a film from forming).Transfer the bowl into the fridge and chill for 3 hours, or until the custard is no longer hot.
Whipped Cream Cheese White Chocolate Ganache
- Place chopped white chocolate into a heat-proof bowl. Set aside.
- In a small pot, bring heavy cream to a gentle simmer. Pour hot cream onto white chocolate. Allow mixture to sit for 5minutes. Whisk until chocolate is full incorporated. Place a piece of plastic wrap over bowl and transfer the bowl into the fridge and chill for 2 hours, or until the ganache is no longer hot.
- When ready to assemble the cream puffs, transfer the chilled ganache to a stand mixture fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip mixture on medium-high until medium peaks form, about 1 minute. Transfer whipped ganache into a small bowl.
- Using the same bowl and whisk attachment, whip softened cream cheese on high speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Fold whipped white chocolate into cream cheese until fully combined. Chill until ready to use.
Craquelin
- In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix with rubber spatula until smooth.
- Roll out the craquelin dough to 1/8-inch in thickness. Use a cookie cutter and cut out 12 2-inch circles. Set aside.
Pâte à Choux
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Bring to a light boil, remove from heat, and immediately add in all the flour. Quickly stir in the flour, using a rubber spatula, and return saucepan back over medium-high heat.
- Continue to stir the mixture, without stopping, until the paste is smooth, about 1-2 minutes. It will pull away from the sides of the pan and leave a thin coating of cooked paste on the bottom when ready. The texture should resemble dry mashed potatoes.
- Transfer the paste to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low for the choux to cool down.
- While the mixer is running on medium, gradually stream in the lightly beaten eggs. Mix until well combined.
- Transfer the pâte à choux to the prepared piping bag with around tip. Pipe out 12 choux mounds onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving roughly 2 inches between each puff. If you are making choux with a craquelin top, this is when you want to add the craquelin to the choux mounds.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately bake choux puffs for 35 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet and turn down the oven to325F, then bake for 10 minutes more until choux are deeply golden. Remove from oven and set on cooling rack to cool.
Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a muffin pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (except for the shredded coconut).
- In the bowl of a stand mixture fitted with a paddle attachment, combine sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. Add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in pineapple, coconut, and grated coconuts until fully incorporated.
- Transfer batter evenly into the muffin pan and bake for 15 – 17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow the cupcake to cool in the pan for 5 minute before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completed. Once cooled, take 3 – 4 of the cupcakes and cut cupcakes into ½-inch cubes.
Assembly
- Trim the tops off of the cooled choux pastry with a sharp serrated knife. Set the tops aside.
- Transfer the chilled spice custard into a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Alternatively, you can use a spoon to fill the puffs. Pipe the custard into the puffs until it reaches the brim.
- Transfer whipped cream cheese white chocolate ganache to a piping bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe two rings of ganache on top of the custard.
- Place the ‘hat’ of the choux on top of the ganache. Garnish with cubed carrot cake. Dust with powdered sugar.
- Serve immediately!
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