I couldn’t bring myself to cook a rabbit for Hare Day (25 Pluviôse), so I celebrated the day with vaguely bunny-shaped cream puffs instead. You’re safe this year, bunny in our back yard! The month of Pluviose tapered off with flora that I couldn’t easily translate into edible dishes. We’re skipping over: lichen, yew tree, lungwort, couch grass, woad and knotgrass (among others). From a reputable Icelandic source, their lichen is still being used for edible products.

I filled the bunnys with pastry cream, but vanilla ice cream would be just as good.

Cream Puffs

Choux Paste

1 cup sifted flour

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup whole milk

8 tbs butter

1/2 tsp salt

4 large eggs

Pastry Cream 

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbs flour

2 tbs cornstarch

4 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cup milk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

To make the puffs, we’ll make choux paste. Heat the oven to 400. In a large saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter and salt. Bring to a boil and then add the flour. Mix vigorously until combined. Continue to cook and stir for another minute. Transfer to a bowl and let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. Then, beat in the eggs one at a time.

For the pastry filling, mix the sugar, flour, cornstarch and egg yolks until pale yellow. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk to a simmer. Temper the egg mixture by slowly whisking in the hot milk into th eggs. Then, pour everything back into the pan and cook, whisking constantly until the mixture starts to bubble. Then, cook for 45 to 60 seconds more. Scrape the custard into a clean bowl and add the vanilla. Cover with a piece of wax paper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Put the choux paste into a pastry bag or a ziplock bag with one corner cut out in a 1-inch hole. On a baking sheet with a silicone mat, pipe out spheres about 2 1/2 inches wide and 1 inch high. Bake for 15 minutes at 400, then add some bunny ears (if you like) and return to a 350 oven for 20 minutes. Poke a hole in the bottom (or side for bunnys) and return to a turned-off oven to continue drying. When cool, fill with pastry cream using a pastry bag or ziplock bag. Enjoy!