was it venice?

just made cream puffs today.
this is the cooked pastry cream, which is the easier part, i think.
this is the pâte à choux. first, butter, sugar and sugar are boiled together. the flour is added, and soon enough a dough forms. this dough is beaten until it cools down, then a lot of eggs are added until the pâte à choux is smooth and sticky.

i think it's shocking how the pastry puffs up so much. i thought it would be a quick process, but turns out the pastry puffed up very slowly. slowly but surely. (but they deflate a little on cooling.)

i also learnt a trick from mummy regarding egg washes. after beating the egg, strain it through a wire mesh, and then discard residue. this gives an egg wash that is free of those lumps of egg white that refuse to break up. the resulting baked good has a very golden crust that is so 幼.
then a new problem came up: the puffs revealed a hollowed base! i don't know why.
anyhow, just slice them open on top and dollop with the pastry cream (which i found too bodiless), and replace the top.