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These are very delicate and tasty cream puffs that will make those that you serve them to  feel extra special...

Serves (8)
Prep: 20 mins. |
Cook: 40 minutes
--(+ standing time of 30 mins.)

Posted by Sandra

INGREDIENTS:

---Puffs
-1 cup water
-½ cup unsalted butter
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-4 eggs

---Filling
(This is quick and easy – or feel free to make your own custard.)
-1 package (4-serving size) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
-1 cup milk
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 cups whipping cream (un-whipped)

-Confectioners sugar, for dusting

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In medium saucepan, heat water and butter to rolling boil. Stir in flour; reduce heat to low. Stir vigorously over low heat with a wooden spoon about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at once; continue beating until smooth.

On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart while dough is still warm (its supposed to be sticky and paste-like). Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until puffed and golden. Cool away from draft, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile make the filling. In large bowl, beat pudding mix, milk, and vanilla extract with an electric hand-mixer on low speed until well blended. Add whipping cream; beat on high speed for about 2 minutes.

Once puffs are cooled, gently cut off the top third of each puff, and then carefully pull out any obvious strands of soft dough (but do not to take out too much or youll expose the bottom). Fill bottom of puffs with filling; replace tops. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve immediately. ~ Enjoy!


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Cream puffs! What else is there to say? Well, CHOCOLATE cream puffs, I should say. Oh baby. Of course; I dreamed up this idea, googled it, and discovered the rest of the world had been there before me. What else is new? Never mind. Plainly an idea whos time has come.  Rich and eggy (and chocolatey), but not too sweet - delicious!

Makes 12 to 24 cream puffs
1 hour prep time, 2 hours time to cool



 Make the Puffs:
1 cup soft unbleached flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 extra-large eggs

Sift the flour, cocoa and sugar into a small bowl and set aside. Put the water. butter and salt into a large pot and bring to a boil. When the butter has melted, and as the mixture boils steadily, dump in the flour mixture and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon,  until the mixture forms a smooth ball. Remove it from the heat, and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.

Break the eggs into the pot, and beat them into the dough, one at a time. Make sure each egg is well incorporated before adding the next one.

Spoon the dough out onto the prepared tray, keeping them as well spaced as you can. If they are a bit rough on top, smooth out the dough with the back of a wet spoon, but dont flatten them out - keep them as high as you can.

Bake the puffs for 30 to 35 minutes, until firm. Let cool before glazing and filling.

Make the Custard:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons soft unbleached flour
2 extra-large eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Sift the sugar, salt and flour into the top of a double boiler. Mix well. Beat in the eggs, until the mixture is smooth and lump-free. Stir in the milk.

Turn the heat on under the double boiler. Stir the mixture regularly, until it begins to heat up; at that point it must be stirred constantly until the mixture thickens. Once it is thick, remove it from the stove (and the double boiler.) Add the vanilla and butter, and continue stirring until well blended and smooth. Set aside to cool before filling the cream puffs. Note; while its not required to use an electric mixer to stir the custard, it does help to ensure a smooth, lump-free custard.

When both the puffs and the custard are cool, cut the puffs in half. (You can leave a "hinge" on one side.) Spoon enough custard into each open puff to fill it, and close the top back over the custard.  

Make the Glaze:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder

Do not make the glaze until the puffs are filled and ready to be glazed. 

Put all the ingredients  into a small pot. Bring rapidly to a boil, stirring constantly. As soon as everything is melted and well blended, remove from the stove. Drizzle some of the glaze over each filled cream puff. Work as quickly as you can; the glaze sets very fast. Spreat it around with the back of the spoon if necessary.




Last year at this time I made Spicy Garlicky Roast Potatoes.