Raspberry Earl Grey Cream Puffs (Choux au Craquelin)

For the craquelin:

1. In a small bowl, cream together the butter, flour and sugar in a bowl until it forms a dough.
2. Shape into a disc and place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper.
3. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the fridge and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to appx ⅛" thickness.
5. Use a round 2" cookie cutter and cut out discs. Place the cut out discs onto a sheet of parchment paper and store in the freezer until ready to use. You should get approximately 10-12 discs, depending on how large your cutter is.
6. Prepare a large 12" by 17" baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the choux pastry:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. In a small pot, add in the water, butter, sugar and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
3. Add in the flour at once and reduce the heat to low. Stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon until it forms a ball of dough, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment fitted, transfer the dough to the mixer and turn it on low speed. This will help cool down the dough before adding the eggs.
5. Once the dough is lukewarm, gradually add in the lightly beaten egg in a few additions, but be careful not to add too much egg.
6. The dough will look curdled between additions, but don't worry, it will absorb the egg. Scrape down the bowl periodically. To check if you've added enough egg, pull up the paddle from the mixture -- if the mixture hanging down from the paddle forms a "v," it's ready. The dough will be shiny and glossy.
7. Transfer the choux dough to a large piping bag, fitted with a round tip.
8. Holding the piping tip straight and upright, pipe round dollops about 1.5" in diameter and 1" in height on the prepared baking sheet and leave a few inches in between each dollop. Repeat until all the dough is used up. (Should end up with 10-12 mounds).
9. Fill a small dish with a little water and wet the tip of your finger to dab down any pointed tops in the choux dough.
10. Place a frozen craquelin disc on top of each choux dough mound.
11. Bake the cream puffs at 400°F for 10 minutes.
12. Lower to 350°F and bake for another 25-30 minutes. Remove puffs from the oven and cut off the tops using a sharp serrated knife. Place them back into the oven with the door slightly ajar and the oven turned off for about 15 minutes to fully dry out.
13. Remove puffs from oven and let cool on a rack.
14. At this point in time, cream puffs can be sealed in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature if not using right away.

For the whipped cream:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together 135ml heavy cream and powdered sugar, until almost stiff peaks. Set aside.
2. Pour 1 tablespoon (15ml) cream into a small bowl. Add the powdered gelatin on top and let it bloom, about 5-10 minutes.
3. Microwave the gelatin mixture for 10-15 seconds, until gelatin is dissolved.
4. Drizzle gelatin cream mixture into the whipping cream and whip until stiff.
5. Store the whipped cream in the fridge until ready to use.
6. *Note: Whipped cream will be divided in half for Raspberry Cream and Earl Grey Pastry Cream.

For the raspberry cream:

1. Add the raspberries into a blender. Blend the raspberries into a puree.
2. Transfer the puree into a small saucepan.
3. Add in the sugar and lemon juice.
4. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and syrupy, about 20 minutes.
5. Pour the raspberry puree through a sieve into a clean bowl.
6. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
7. Fold in half of the stabilized whipped cream mixture.

For the Earl Grey Pastry Cream:

1. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, sea salt, cornstarch, and flour. Set aside.
2. To a small saucepan, add in milk, heavy whipping cream and earl grey tea bags and bring to a gentle simmer.
3. Let the tea steep in the cream for about 5 minutes on low heat, and use a spatula to gently press on the tea bags to extract the tea.
4. Remove the tea bags.
5. While whisking the egg yolk mixture, pour in the hot tea-infused milk to the egg mixture a little at a time. This is to temper/warm the egg yolks so that they don't scramble.
6. When the milk and egg yolks have been incorporated, pour the warmed mixture back into the saucepan and whisk, over medium-low heat until it thickens, about 2-3 minutes.
7. Once the pastry cream thickens (when you can draw a line on the back of a wooden spoon and it holds its shape), remove from heat.
8. Whisk in the vanilla and bergamot extract and cool down the mixture over an ice bath.
9. Transfer the cooled pastry cream to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place into the fridge to chill.
10. Fold in half of the stabilized whipped cream into the Earl Grey pastry cream to lighten.

To assemble:

1. Fill a piping bag with the raspberry cream, fitted with a star piping tip.
2. Fill a second bag with the Earl Grey pastry cream, fitted with a round piping tip.
3. Pipe in the Earl Grey cream into the cavity of the choux.
4. Add a layer of raspberry cream.
5. Place the top "lid" of the cream puff and garnish with freeze-dried raspberry powder. Repeat with the remainder.
6. Enjoy immediately. If not consuming right away, store cream puffs in the fridge.