Every December, I spend my birthday in the oven baking for my loved ones instead of letting them bake for me. In 2021, with the kids doing their full part to help, we whipped, boiled, stirred, piped, baked, packed, and eventually sped off into a snowy night to deliver our gifts to friends.
The texts started almost immediately.
“THESE ARE UNREAL!”
“Funny. Oh my God. Thank you!”
“WHAT ARE THEY??!” What were they? They were Craquelin cream puffs (or “choux pastry with crackers”) standard cream puff made “UNREAL” with a simple top layer that we informally call a “cookie lid”. It adds a crispy shell of texture that explodes when you bite into it, making the tongue tingle with superlatives for the contrast between the creamy fillings and their crunchy container.
Martin Philip
Biscuit cap is not unique to cream feathers. from shells to Dutch muffins, tiger bread, pineapple buns and coffee buns (papparoti), hat rolls or brushed slushies can be seen in many baking styles and cultures. You can use the cookie cutter to literally complement what you've done before, adding flavor, texture, and beauty to breads and pastries through these simple finishing techniques.
Fillings for everything from rolls to cream puffs can be divided into two basic categories based on their consistency. In the firmer category are dough-based fillings (like cookie dough); and, looser in structure, the slurry-based option.
Martin Philip
Dough-based filling
Used for shells, Lemon sugar cookies, Craquelin cream puffsor even Brioche buns and other enriched breads, the cookie lid is an instant friend to any roll or choux.
The lid is made from a stiff dough in approximately equal parts (by weight) of butter, sugar and flour. Similar in consistency to sugar pastry, it is thinly rolled and cut, then added as a topping near the end of the proofing or, as with craquelin, immediately after the pâté à choux is assembled. During baking, the cookie melts and browns, fusing with the dough below.
The options for flavoring the cookie lid are endless. from cocoa THE ADVENTURESfruit powders, OILSand extracts, taste and color can be made to match fillings, reinforce existing components or provide contrast. For an example of a scented cap in action, see our site Lemon sugar cookies with their zip lemon powder-injected cap. And, for additional inspiration, Mariela Camacho's deep story with concas can't be beat for fresh take on the classic Mexican pan dulce.
Martin Philip
But you can also keep it simple. For my craquelin recipe, I make a brown sugar cap that offers enough caramel flavor and depth to balance the lime-infused whipped cream and hibiscus syrup filling.
Mitchell Maher
Sludge-based filling
A second category of top options is slurry. Similar to cap, but piped or applied with a brush due to a looser consistency, it bakes thinner and less cookie-like, with a more textured and flaky crust.
Known as Dutch crunch in San Francisco, or tiger bread in the Netherlands, slush can be found from Europe to Asia in rolls and breads with names like “giraffe bread” and “Marco Polo bread.” While most commonly seen in savory applications, slushies can be made sweet, as in the coffee beans known as papparoti: a croissant style butter filled roll filled with a tube, coffee-injected sweet sludge.
To add a liquid to the rolls, a variable combination of rice flour, water, oil, sugar, yeast, and various flavorings are made into a thick paste and brushed or piped onto the surface of the roll just before baking. The pulp is cracked and scratched in the oven, forming the mottled visual and textured surface. It literally crunches when you eat it.
Leaning on savory notes, I've used everything from miso paste to beer to flavor juices, but simpler options are a great place to start. Our friend Sarah Jampel wrote a piece for Food52 recounting her slushy off-road experience. If you are looking for a recipe to get started, I would recommend her method as an option.
Liz Neily
Where to start?
Start with these Craquelin cream puffs to get a feel for working with the lid. From there, you can read Mariela's blog and try her curves on ours Concha with cinnamonor maybe just jump in with both feet and add a chocolate sablé or short bread to the rolls made with Japanese Chocolate Milk Bread. Yes, that's right, many cake-style cookie doughs can be rolled to about 1/8” thickness, cut to size, and used as cookie hats in rolls and choux pastry.
With little effort and a few ingredients, this delightful cookie dough and batter offers endless possibilities to take your baking above and beyond.
Cover picture (Craquelin cream puffs) by Rick Holbrook.
