Gateau St. Honore

1 1/2 cups water
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs
Rich Pastry Cream
Melted semisweet chocolate or confectioners' sugar

Heat water and butter to boiling in medium saucepan, stirring until butter is melted. Remove from heat; add flour and salt all at once stirring until combined. Return to heat, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until dough leaves the side of the pan and forms a ball, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating until well blended after each addition.

Fill pastry bag with large plain tip and pipe dough onto cookie sheets, or spoon dough onto greased cookie sheets, using about 1 1/2 tablespoons for each cream puff. Smooth tops of puffs with a wet spoon or finger. Bake at 400 degrees F until cream puffs are golden and dry, 30 to 40 minutes. (Do not open oven door during first 20 minutes.) Cool puffs on wire racks.

Cut cream puffs in half with a serrated knife; gently pull out any wet dough in center of puffs. Return puffs to oven and bake until insides are dry, about 5 minutes. Fill puffs with Rich Pastry Cream up to 1 hour before serving. Arrange puffs in a circular or wreath pattern on serving dish; refrigerate until serving time. Drizzle cream puffs with melted chocolate and/or sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Makes 3 to 4 dozen mini-cream puffs.

Rich Pastry Cream:
8 egg yolks
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat egg yolks and sugar in large bowl until eggs are thick and pale yellow, about 5 minutes.

Mix in flour. Heat milk to simmering in small saucepan; gradually whisk milk into egg yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until sauce boils and thickens. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla extract to pastry cream, stirring until butter is melted. Refrigerate until chilled, 1 to 2 hours.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups.