Durian Puffs

Durian puffs are popularly known as a Singaporean pastry. It is nothing more than normal cream puffs except that the cream has been substituted for durian pulp. In season you can buy whole durian fruits in South East Asia. It is tricky to open the thorny exterior but once you do, you get to the creamy pulp inside. Read more about durians in our related blog post Durian, King of the Fruits

You can buy durians in the form of frozen pulp in Australia. Look for them in Asian grocery stores. They are mainly from Thailand, but some of the best durians come from Malaysia, especially from the state of Penang. People of Hong Kong are known to fly down to Malaysia in groups during durian season just to savour the durians.

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry:

• 1/2 cup (65 grams) flour
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) (57 gram) coconut oil
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Glaze:

• 1 large egg

Method

Melt the butter in a pan, then add water and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour. Return the pan onto a low heat and stir until the mixture comes away from the sides.

Leave to cool for five minutes.

Whisk both eggs and then add it to the mixture. Beat well. The final texture of the mixture should be a thick paste. A test for the right consistency would be to hold the wooden spoon with the mixture on it upside down. The mixture should not easily fall off but stay for awhile on the spoon before falling off.

Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees C. Line a tray with baking paper. With a pastry bag pipe in a circular motion mounds of dough onto the baking paper with 2” or 5 cm spacing between them. Glaze the top with a whisked egg and bake in the oven for about 15 mins. Then reduce the temperature to 180 degrees C. Continue baking for another 25 mins.

Make sure you do not open the oven door during this time to ensure the dough puffs up nicely.

Then turn oven off and let it crisp for another 10 mins. It makes about 12 puffs.

fill the inner hollow of the puff with durian pulp

Assembling

Once cool, cut the puffs in half and spread durian in the inner casing of the puffs.