Jeng Fatien's Site - Out of Africa

Description:
I have missed home so much recently. I miss those little things I used to do or eat in Indonesia that I cannot do as much here in Ghana anymore. I missed Kue Sus so badly yesterday and decided to make them. Kue Sus (Choux Pastry or Cream puff in USA) is definitely not an Indonesian traditional food but it was so much a part of my up-bringing. Choux Pastry is of French origin. I started making Kue Sus since I was very young, say.... 12 years old? The shell (pastry) is simply made of flour, eggs, fat (butter/margarin) and water. The shell can be filled with vanilla curtard (or vla in Indonesian), butter cream or just whipped cream. They can be topped off with choccolate (to make ecclair), a swirl of caramel and almond or just a dusting of icing sugar. Back then when I was little I had some failures in making it and I blamed it on the oven. It was very hard to control the temperature since we only had the traditional sitting-on-the-stove oven like most Indonesian homes do. The right temperature is key in baking the pastry. So here is my old recipe for Kue Sus / Choux Pastry

Ingredients:
Choux Pastry
1/2 cup butter or margarin
1 cup water
1 cup plain flour
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Vanilla Custard / Cream Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1 eggs
2 cup milk
2 table spoons corn flour
1 table spoon butter
1 tea spoon vanilla extract (use the best) or 1 table spoon Rum if using

Directions:
Choux Pastry:
Heat oven to about 400 F (or about 200 C).
In a pot boil water, butter and salt. Add flour into the boiling mix at once and stir briefly until it form a ball. Remove from heat. Let it cool down for 15 minutes. Add the eggs into the batter, one at a time. Mix well using an electric mixer (medium speed) after each addition of egg. The batter should be sticky.

Grease cookie sheet with butter and dust lightly with flour. I usually line the sheet with baking paper (greased and dusted with flour). Drop a spoon of batter onto the sheet, spacing them apart (about 5 cm). Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minute or until golden brown. Do not open the oven door in the first 30 minute.
Remove pastry unto wirerack to cool.

Filling:
Whisk egg and sugar. Add milk and corn flour, mix well. Cook on a medium heat, stirring constantly using a whisker until the mixture thicken and bubble. Remove from stove top, add the butter and vanilla / rum. Continue stirring until the mixture smooth.

Using scissors, cut the pastry shell to form an opening. Fill the pastry with a poon of vanilla filling. Dust top with icing sugar. Voila!