Petits Choux Maria

First, work together all the ingredients for the sweet pastry. Put the dough in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Next, make the vanilla custard. Combine all the ingredients except the vanilla sugar in a saucepan and simmer gently until the custard has thickened. Allow to cool, then add the vanilla sugar.

To make the choux pastry, put the water and butter in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the flour and continue to boil, stirring vigorously, until the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then add the eggs, stirring vigorously until well combined. Spoon the paste into small, round balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Roll the sweet pastry out to a thickness of 3 mm. Cut out small rounds with a cookie cutter or a glass. Place a round of pastry on top of each mound of choux paste. Bake in the lower part of the oven at 175°C for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Whip the cream until firm and fold into the vanilla custard. Make a small hole at the bottom edge of each cake and put some jam inside each one. Place the vanilla cream in a piping bag and pipe it into the cakes. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with a little jam or jelly if desired. Serve immediately before the cakes become soggy.