Bossche Bollen: Century-Old Pastry from 's‑Hertogenbosch

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200ºC (390F), in non-convection mode, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Step 2

Put your piping bag with an A1 tip, in a cup, folding over the cuff; we’ll use that to make it easier to fill the piping bag with the batter.

Step 3

Make sure you have all of the batter ingredients ready, and nearby!

Step 4

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, bring the water, milk, butter, and salt to a rolling boil over high heat.

Step 5

Once it has reached a rolling boil, take it off the stove, and sift in the flour.

Step 6

Using a spatula, mix it thoroughly, until all the flour is incorporated.

Step 7

Next, we are going to heat the roux over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches a temperature of 70ºC (160F), this should be between 30s and a minute - take it off the stove when it hits this temperature. Cooking the flour is causing the starches in the flour to gelatinize!

Step 8

Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl, and stir it to cool it off to 50ºC (120F).

Step 9

Once it’s at the right temperature, put in the first egg, and mix it until it’s fully incorporated.

Step 10

Add the second egg, and keep mixing. Check the consistency: You should have a smooth batter, that is stiff enough to not “pour” off the spatula, but not so stiff that it falls off in big clumps.If the batter is too stiff, add in the third egg.If, after adding the third bag, the batter is still too stiff, you can add a splash of milk, to thin it out.

Step 11

Transfer the batter to your piping bag with an A2 tip. Then, pipe it out in six to eight large mounds on your cookie sheet. Try to keep them as round as possible, and uniform in shape and size.

Step 12

Put the cookie sheet in the oven for about 30 minutes. The outside should be a nice golden brown.

Step 13

Turn off the oven.

Step 14

Poke a hole in the bottom of each puff, and put them back on the cookie sheet, with the hole pointing up.

Step 15

Put it back in the oven, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Open the door a little bit, and let them sit for another 20 minutes. This should dry out the insides, by letting the steam escape, without making the insides soggy.

Step 16

Now, move the puffs to a cooling rack, and let them cool completely.

Step 17

A little while before your your pastries are done cooling off, you can start making the chocolate glaze.

Step 18

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, bring the water and sugar to a boil, brushing the sides of the pan with a wet brush, to make sure no sugar sticks to the side.

Step 19

Once it reaches a boil, let it boil for a minute. Now, carefully pour the boiling syrup into a glass bowl.

Step 20

Add the chocolate, and start mixing it with a spatula. When all the chocolate is fully incorporated, Use an emersion blender for around a minute until it’s a shiny, smooth glaze.

Step 21

Let the glaze cool down until it’s 60ºC (140F).

Step 22

Carefully grab one of the puff by the bottom edge, and dip it into the chocolate glaze. You want the glaze to get as close to the bottom as possible. Put them on the rack, to cool off completely.

Step 23

Repeat for all of the Bossche pollen.

Step 24

Once the Bossche Bollen are completely cooled off, make your whipped cream by mixing together the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla paste until stiff peaks.

Step 25

Fill your pastry bag (with an I2 tip) with the whipped cream

Step 26

Put the tip of the bag into the hole you poked in the bottom of the pastry, and gently squeeze, until the pastry is completely full. You can feel that in your hand, and see it by the bottom of the pastry "pushing up"

Step 27

They are best enjoyed right after filling them. But, you can store them in the fridge for a few days, inside an airtight container.