Craig Claiborne's Cream Puffs

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Step 2

   Rub a baking sheet all over with butter and sprinkle with flour. Shake sheet back and forth until surface is coated with flour. Shake off excess.

3. Step 3

   Put water in a saucepan and add 8 tablespoons butter, salt and sugar. Bring to a boil.

4. Step 4

   Add 1 cup flour all at once, stirring vigorously around and around with a wooden spoon until a ball is formed and no mixture is left on the sides of the saucepan.

5. Step 5

   Add one egg, beating vigorously and rapidly with the spoon until it is well blended with the mixture. Add another egg, beat until incorporated, and continue with remaining eggs until all are beaten in.

6. Step 6

   Fit a pastry bag with a round-tipped No. 6 pastry tube. Spoon mixture into the bag. Holding the pastry bag straight up with tip close to the floured surface of the baking sheet, squeeze it to make mounds of pastry at 2-inch intervals all over pan. There should be about 36 mounds.

7. Step 7

   The mounds may have pointed tips on top. To flatten these, wet a clean tea towel and squeeze it well. Open it up, fold it over in thirds. Hold it stretched directly over the mounds, quickly patting down just enough to rid the mounds of the pointed tips. Do not squash the mounds.

8. Step 8

   Place pan in oven and bake 30 minutes, or until cream puffs are golden brown and cooked through. Remove and let cool.