Cream Puffs

My mom is always whipping up delicious things, but when she raved about this cream puff recipe from a local church cookbook we were both gifted a few years ago, I ran to grab it from my shelf. I LOVE cream puffs!

The recipe is essentially three steps: puffs, filling, chocolate drizzle. I recently brought them to a housewarming party where they were a huge hit, but I think I made some enemies because there weren’t exactly enough to go around (!!!). So keep that in mind and double the recipe — they won’t go to waste, trust me.

In the culinary world, the puff dough is called “choux pastry” or “pâte à choux”. Without geeking out too much, I find it so cool that this dough was created by Catherine de Medici’s chef (since we love all things Florence). Anyways, the pastry dough is a breeze to make in a pinch since the ingredients are kitchen staples like eggs, butter, and flour.

Ingredients

Puffs:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 c. water
1 c. flour
3-4 eggs

Filling:
1 sm. box instant vanilla pudding
1 c. whipping cream
1 c. milk

Drizzle
3 T. butter
2 T. cocoa powder (light frosting)
1/4 c. cocoa powder (med. frosting)
1/2 c. cocoa powder (dark frosting)
1/4 c. confectioners’ sugar
2-3 T. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

Puffs: Place butter and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add flour to pan all at once. Remove from heat and stir vigorously until a ball of dough forms. Place ball in mixing bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Dough should be stiff and smooth. Add 4th egg if needed. Place rounded spoonfuls of dough 2-inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in oven at 375 for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. (Puffs should look dull, not glossy.) Carefully cut tops off and cool on rack.

Filling: Place cream in mixing bowl,  add pudding mix and beat until thick. Gradually add milk until pudding is the right consistency. Fill puffs no more than 24 hours before serving.

Chocolate drizzle: Melt butter in saucepan or microwave. Add cocoa in amount you prefer. Heat mixture until it boils, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Pour into mixing bowl. Let cool completely. Add confectioners’ sugar, alternately with milk and vanilla until it is spreading consistency.

After assembling, I like to refrigerate mine until just before serving.

Hope you enjoy!