Větrník is a typical Czech dessert, something similar to a French éclair. This is my favorite dessert. I liked it when I was a child and I still love it. It is a light puff pastry filled with butter cream and caramel whipped cream. It was not easy to figure out the right recipe for the gluten-free version, and there were several failed attempts. But after a few attempts I succeeded.
First we prepare the caramel filling. It is best to start it in the evening and let it cool in the fridge overnight.
Caramel Filling:
- 360 ml heavy whipping cream
- 7 tablespoon of coconut sugar (sugar)
In a small saucepan over medium heat, add sugar. Bring to a simmer, stirring every so often until the sugar is dissolved. Add heavy cream and stir until combined. Let cool and store in the fridge overnight.
Gluten Free Puff Pastry
- 300ml water
- 100ml vegetable oil
- 200g flour Schaer mix B
- 4 large or 5 small eggs
Put the water and oil in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and add flour. Stir until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and begins to form a ball. If you’ve ever made this dough out of classic flour, you will notice the difference. The ball is not so smooth and does not hold together well. It’s because of the absence of gluteen but don’t worry.
Remove from heat and let it cool.
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At this time it is good to use a hand blender. I know it sounds strange, but the dough gets processed much better. Gluten-free flour tends to make lumps, and the hand blender mixes the eggs and the dough well. Once the dough appears smooth, and has the consistency of glue, it is ready.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with round tip and begin to form circular cone-like shapes that have a diameter of 8 cm on the baking parchment.
Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and bake 20 minutes more. Větrníky should be puffed, golden and sound hollow when tapped.
Let cool and split each Větrník through the middle with a serrated knife.
Vanila cream filling:
- Vanila custard powder
- Sweetener
- 300ml milk
- 250g butter
Mix the vanilla pudding powder in 50ml of milk. Bring the the other 250ml of milk to a boil. Slowly add milk with vanilla custard powder to the warm milk and heat until the liquid thickens. Let cool completely.
Put the butter into bowl. Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter with the pudding and sweetener until smooth.
Now we take the caramel heavy cream from the fridge and mix it with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until the cream starts to thicken. Continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Now it is time to fill the Větrníky with the cream. First transfer the vanilla cream in to a piping bag and pipe cream onto the bottom half of the pastry. Then pipe the caramel whipped cream into the center. Close the pastries.
