Recipe/Tutorial: Rowlet Cream Puffs Inspired by Pokémon Sun and Moon (and some awesome fanart!)

I picked up my copy of Pokémon Moon on its release date, November 18th. I was glued to my screen during our Thanksgiving trip and I finished shortly after our return. I can safely say that Moon was the most fun I’ve had with a Pokémon game since playing Gold/Silver as a kid. There’s so much I love about it. For example: I’m a ghost type fanatic, and Alola is a ghost lover’s dream. Mimikyu is now tied with Drifloon for my all-time favorite Pokemon.

I’ve been posting about my playthrough on Twitter a lot. That resulted in my pal TinRobo sending me the world’s most adorable Rowlet fanart by Japanese artist ekm. I mean, look at it.

I immediately looked up more stuff by ekm and found out they’d done more Pokémon illustrations with a pastry theme. Just check out this amazing pâtissier Vulpix, or these cookie ghosts! They even made a huge pastry illustration for the 20th anniversary. To say they’ve got a new fan is an understatement. Color me a bona fide ekm fangirl.

I messaged them asking if I could make the cream puffs in real life, and they said I yes! I got to work right away.

ROWLET CREAM PUFFS

Yields: 20-24 cream puffs.

Pâte à Choux
150ml water
150ml milk
110g (1 stick) butter
225g (2 cups) bread flour
30g (2 tbsp) sugar
Pinch of salt
4-7 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 205°C/400°F and line a sheet pan with parchment. I prefer to layer my parchment over a silicone mat or to double up on cookie sheets. This prevents the undersides from overbrowning.
2. In a saucepan, combine the water, milk, sugar, salt and butter. Bring to a rolling boil, then dump in the flour all at once and mix vigorously. The mix will form into a ball. Continue mixing it; you want to dry the batter out some. The dough should begin to leave a film on the bottom of the pot. When this happens, dump the hot dough into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat it on low speed until cooled to lukewarm or room temperature.
2. Begin adding your eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg fully before adding the next. Here’s where it gets a little tricky… Your goal is NOT to use all of the egg, but to achieve the proper consistency. Depending on how dry your dough is, you may use more or less than the recipe calls for (as an example, I made these on a very humid day and only needed 3 eggs). The dough is at the proper consistency when it’s stretchy enough for you to take a pinch of it between your hand and stretch it to over 1″ long. Alternately, lift the paddle of your mixer and check that the dough makes a smooth V shape as it drops. Fill the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (I used Ateco #809).
3. Pipe the cream puffs into rounds a bit smaller than a golf ball, 2″ apart. They will expand quite a lot when baked. If you have any peaks, dip your fingertip in water and pat them down to smooth the tops.
4. Bake the cream puffs for 15 minutes or until fully puffed and partially browned. Now place another sheet pan on a rack above the puffs (or if your heat source is on the bottom, on the rack below). Turn the heat down to 160°C/325°F and continue to bake the puffs for 20-30 more minutes, or until browned all over and dried out. A common mistake is taking cream puffs out of the oven after they are only lightly browned; this will make them soggy once they’re filled. We want crisp pastries! Allow the cream puffs to cool completely. Using the thin end of a chopstick, poke a hole in the base of each puff. Store in an airtight container until ready to fill.

Vanilla Cream
300ml (1 1/4 cup) milk
20g (2 tbsp) cornstarch
1 egg
1 egg yolks
35g (3 tbsp) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 tbsp butter

120ml (1/2 cup) cream, whipped to soft peaks

1. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients except for the butter and whipped cream and beat well. Cook on medium heat until thickened, then allow it to bubble for an additional minute, still stirring it, to get rid of any starchy flavor. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until combined. Run the cream through a sieve to remove any chunks and the vanilla bean pod. Cover with saran wrap, touching the top of the wrap to the cream, and chill in the fridge for 2 hours or until cold. Now stir the cream to soften it a bit and fold in the cream. Fill into a piping bag. Snip off the tip of the bag and fill the puffs by inserting it into the pre-poked holes and squeezing in filling just until you feel each puff plump up.

DECORATING
Green and white fondant, marzipan or modeling chocolate
1/4 cup melted white chocolate
Black gel food coloring
White nonpareils
Cornstarch

1. Using a sheet of paper, sketch out the peanut-shaped face and leaf-shaped bowtie of Rowlet’s. It’s best to make the template yourself to fit the size of your finished cream puffs! Once you’ve got the size right, fold it in half to make sure it’s symmetrical. Then cut it out.
2. Roll both your fondants out thinly on a cornstarch-dusted countertop. Using a sharp knife, cut out one face and one bowtie shape for every puff. Set the face shapes aside.
3. Squeeze the leaf shapes together at the center as shown below, to form the cute little leaf bowtie. I just squeezed them together and pushed the center down with the back of my knife to form a fold, before giving it a final pinch with my tweezers from the next step.

4. Next, use a fine-tipped paint brush to paint Rowlet’s face. Mark the basic sizing for your features before you paint the final lines. This will help you keep things neat. Once the face is painted, use a tweezer to place a white nonpareil at the center of each eye.

5. Allow the fondant/marzipan features to dry for 20 minutes.
6. Fill your melted chocolate into a small piping bag. Pipe dots of melted chocolate on the backs of the faces/bowties and adhere them to each puff. Serve!

These Rowlet cream puffs are sure to Astonish any Pokéfan in your life. If you have the Foresight to bring them to a party, the guests will surely do a Feather Dance!

I’ll see myself out before you guys whip out your Razor Leaf.

IN THIS ENTRY (Affiliate links):