Hungarian cream puffs – Képviselőfánk

by | Dec 23, 2015 | Desserts

Hungarian cream puffs are so amazing and splendid, much better than profiteroles or éclairs; I always make them for Christmas. They are called képviselőfánk in Hungarian, which literally means “representative’s doughnut”. Officially the origin of képvislőfánk is wrapped in mystery, but according to a legend these cream puffs were served for the members in the buffet of the Parliament in the 19th century, and this is reason why the word representative is mentioned in their Hungarian name.

Képviselőfánk is made from a light and crispy choux pastry, which contains water, egg, salt, flour and either butter or lard. I prefer to use lard – it suits my taste better, but, of course, you are allowed to use butter, too. It’s very important to bake the pastries in a steamed oven – steam helps them rise and become crispy and airy. Don’t open the door during the baking process because the shells can collapse.

I know from my own experience that the 20-30 minute baking time most recipes usually suggest isn’t enough to reach the right consistence, my pastries always collapsed after I had taken them out of the oven. Choux pastry must be baked well to ensure that the interior walls are dry; therefore, after several attempts, I stick to baking them for 40 minutes (don’t worry, they don’t burn), so the shells retain their beautiful puffed form even after they are cooled.

Hungarian cream puffs are filled with pastry cream and whipped cream. Pastry cream or crème pâtissière is a thick and stable custard, which is usually made with either flour or cornstarch. Virtually I use the recipe of krémes filling for the cream puffs, too, I just half the quantities. My filling differs from the traditional pastry cream in one thing, namely I always fold whipped egg whites into the cream.

Hungarian cream puffs / Képviselőfánk
Képviselőfánk – Hungarian cream puffs – photo: zserbo.com
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2 Comments

Hungarian cottage cheese

This is what Hungarian túró looks like

You often ask me what kind of cottage cheese (or curd cheese or farmer's cheese - call it what you want) I use in the recipes. In Hungary the store-bought cottage cheese is dry and crumbly as you can see in the picture. So if a recipe calls for túró, I mean this type. If you can't obtain túró, you can try to make your own from whole milk. Click on the link below.

Wish list

If you are looking for a Hungarian recipe that hasn't been published on this website yet, let me know, and I'll do my best to post it.

Metric system vs cup

In Hungary metric units are in use, all the recipes on this website are based on this system, so a kitchen scale is necessary. Since I’m not familiar with cup as a measurement unit, I convert grams to cups by using an online converter. The values in brackets, therefore, are only approximate volumes, so, please, double-check them before you start cooking.

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