Chocolate Custard Cream Puffs

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Put the milk, water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan and slowly bring to the boil to melt the butter. Remove from the heat and quickly tip in the flour, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon until a thick smooth dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan. Tip the dough into the bowl of a standing mixer and cool for 10 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly between each addition to make a thick, smooth shiny dough that falls off the beaters when lifted.

Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough into each muffin tin hole, leaving it as it falls so the tops will have lovely peaks and valleys when cooked.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and crisp and a good golden colour. Remove from the oven and quickly cut off the top third of each puff through the natural line that forms when baking. Place the tops, cut side up on a flat baking tray. Return both the muffin tin with the bases, and the tray with the tops to the oven for about 5 minutes to dry out any uncooked dough. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

To assemble: Fill the bases generously with the following chocolate custard cream and sandwich with the tops. Dust generously with icing sugar and serve within a couple of hours. Makes 12

Chocolate Custard Cream

Mix the sugar and cornflour together in a small saucepan then slowly whisk in the milk until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla and the egg yolks.

Cook over a medium low heat, whisking constantly until the custard just starts to thicken on the base of the saucepan. Immediately take off the heat and continue to whisk for 1 minute until very thick and glossy. Put back over a low heat and cook, whisking constantly for 1 minute. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter and chocolate until melted and smooth.

Tip into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface to prevent a skin forming. Cool then chill until cold.

Whisk the cold custard until smooth. Whisk the cream until it just starts to thicken then add all of the chocolate custard. Continue to whisk together until thickened to just past soft peaks.