Yuzu Crème Pâtissière:

1. Since the crème pâtissière will need time to set and cool, make that first. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until smooth and pale yellow.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine milk and lemon zest. Bring milk to a low simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Slowly pour a small amount of hot milk into egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. (This gently raises the temperature of the eggs so that they don’t end up scrambled.) After egg yolk mixture has been tempered, slowly pour in remaining milk while continuously whisking.
4. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly to keep mixture from scorching and lumps from forming. When the mixture starts to thicken and bubbles begin to appear, turn heat down to low and continue to whisk for 1–2 minutes more.
5. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until thoroughly combined and melted.
6. Place a metal sieve over a heat-safe bowl, then strain crème pâtissière. Immediately press cling film directly onto surface. (This keeps a skin from forming.)
7. Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to fridge to chill for 2 hours.
   NOTE: To make the crème pâtissière cool to room temp faster (in roughly 30 minutes), you can partially fill a large bowl with ice water and gently place your pastry cream bowl into the ice water. Just take care to not get any water into the crème pât.
8. After the crème pâtissière has chilled in the fridge, whisk it a little to loosen it up, then whisk in yuzu extract, yuzu juice, or other citrus juice until fully incorporated and smooth. ^[1]
9. Return pastry cream to fridge until you’re ready to make the crème légère.

Pai-Shuu Crust (Optional):

1. The pai-shuu crust is optional, but it adds another fun texture to your shu creams! In a heat-safe bowl, microwave butter until melted. Sift in flour, confectioners’ sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir and smush ingredients together until all flour and sugar has been incorporated. (If necessary, get in there with your hands to really bring everything together.) Set aside.

Pâte à Choux:

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium pot, combine butter, water, sugar, and salt. Over medium heat, melt butter and let mixture just begin to boil.
3. Remove pot from heat and add flour to liquid mixture all at once. With a wooden spoon, quickly stir until thoroughly combined and the mixture forms a ball.
   NOTE: Make sure to find and incorporate any hidden clumps of flour.
4. Place pot back on medium heat. Continuously mix with wooden spoon until dough reads 175°F on an instant-read thermometer. (This step helps dry out the dough, which is vital.)
   NOTE: No thermometer? No problem. Look for a starchy film to form inside the pan and for the dough to pull together. This takes 3–4 minutes.
5. Transfer dough to bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat on medium until dough registers 145°F. (Before continuing on, the dough should still be warm but no longer steaming. You don’t want it to cook the eggs!)
6. Crack eggs into a liquid measuring cup or another small vessel with a spout. Lightly whisk together.
7. With mixer on medium-low speed, slowly stream in one third of the whisked eggs. After the egg is incorporated, scrape down bowl as necessary. Repeat 2 more times until all eggs have been added.
8. Scrape down bowl, then beat dough on medium speed for 10–20 seconds.
9. If you will be adding the pai-shuu crust, knead the pai-shuu dough with your hands to bring it together and warm it up a wee bit.
10. Fit a piping bag with a large round piping tip. (We used an Ateco 808 tip.) Transfer pâte à choux to piping bag. Pipe 12 mounds onto prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between the puffs.
    NOTE: If your mounds have little points, gently flatten ‘em with a wet fingertip.
11. Break off a very small piece of pai-shuu dough, flatten it with your fingers, then adhere to choux mound. Continue until mound has a giraffe-esque pai-shuu pattern. Repeat for remaining choux mounds.
12. Bake for 15–20 minutes. Then lower oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 10–20 minutes. (Rotate your pan at this point, if necessary.) Puffs are done when they feel hollow, are golden brown, and are… well… puffy.
13. Remove puffs from oven. Using a paring knife, poke a small vent into the side of each puff. (This allows the steam to escape more easily.) Place puffs back on baking sheet.
14. Turn off oven. Return puffs to warm oven and leave ‘em in there with the door propped open for 30 minutes. (This helps them dry out even more.)
15. After their second oven visit, if the puffs are still warm, transfer to wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Yuzu Crème Légère:

1. When it’s just about time for puff stuffin’, place metal mixing bowl and whisk attachment in freezer for 15 minutes.
2. Retrieve yuzu crème pâtissière from fridge and whisk it a little to loosen it up.
3. In the chilly bowl of a stand mixer fitted with cold whisk attachment, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
4. With a silicone spatula, gently stir about ¼ of the whipped cream in your pastry cream. Add half of remaining whipped cream and gently fold into crème pât. Add the rest of the whipped cream and chopped yuzu peel, then gently fold into pastry cream.
5. Store in fridge if not using immediately.

Assembly & Decoration:

1. In a heatproof bowl, melt vanilla wafers (or white chocolate) in microwave in 30-second increments until it’s mostly melted. Add coconut oil, mixing to combine and melt the rest of the wafers. Mixture needs to cool down some but remain pourable.
2. Fit a piping bag with a Bismark tip such as Wilton 230 or Ateco 229/230. If your crème légère has been in the fridge, pull it out and whisk it a little to loosen it up, if necessary. Transfer to piping bag.
3. Poke a hole in the bottom of each puff with a chopstick. Pipe crème légère into each puff until it feels full. (We added 50–60g of crème légère to each puff.)
4. Dip top of puffs into melted vanilla wafers (or white chocolate). Allow to set for a few minutes, then dip all puffs again. Top with candied yuzu peels.
5. Let topping set before serving. Enjoy impressing your pals with your homemade cream puffs!