Comprised from The Prepared Pantry Magazine “Country Home Kitchen.”
If you can make cupcakes, you can make cream puffs. They’re that simple. I don’t mean fancy, decorator cupcakes; I mean bake-them-from-a-mix-and spread-frosting-on-them cupcakes.
I was a kid when I had my first cream puff. I remember that they were kind of mysterious – something magical. I had no clue how they were made but I sure liked them. Now I know how simple they are.
There are three main parts to cream puffs: the baked pastry shell, the filling, and the topping. From those three simple parts, come hundreds of variations.
Step 1: The pastry shell.
There are only three ingredients besides water. There is no baking powder or yeast; these are leavened with steam. The key to baking the shells is to get your oven hot enough that the moisture will quickly turn to steam, expanding the dough until it triples in size and the puffs get a little caramel colored with crispy edges.
Step 2: The filling.
Buy premade filling. We love Bavarian Cream the best, but here are some of our favorites:
When it comes to filling, you can buy it cheaper than you can make it and it’s a lot less trouble. It comes in a two-pound squeeze pack. Cut a quarter-inch off the plastic package, insert the tube in the edge of a pastry, and squeeze. You’ll feel the pastry become heavier and swell as the filling expands the puff. It’s the easy way to fill cream puffs and other desserts like cupcakes.
Step 3: The topping.
Traditionally, cream puffs have a chocolate topping. You can use any sweet, high-quality chocolate. Chocolate wafers have a smoother grind and more cocoa butter than chocolate chips. You can either dip your cream puffs in the melted chocolate or spoon it over the top of each. The hotter the chocolate, the thinner is the coating. If it is melted but not too hot, you’ll get a thick layer of chocolate.
The topping doesn’t have to be melted chocolate. You can top your cream puffs with melted white chocolate or with frosting. You can tint frosting or white chocolate with professional color gels and add flavors. We top with colored sugar sprinkles.
Chocolate Cream Puffs
This is the recipe for traditional cream puffs made with Bavarian cream filling and chocolate topping.
Ingredients
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter (one stick)
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
Bavarian pastry cream
Chocolate wafers
Directions
1. Place water and butter in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat. After butter is melted, turn off heat and add flour. Stir until dough forms a ball.
2. Place dough ball in stand-type mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low until the dough starts to cool. Add eggs and mix on low until dough absorbs eggs and dough becomes sticky.
3. With a large ice cream scoop, spoon mounds of evenly spaced dough onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes then turn oven down to 350 degrees for another 10 minutes.
4. Fill puffs with Bavarian Cream. Insert tip of plastic bag into the edge of each cream puff and squeeze.
5. Melt chocolate. Either use microwave in 20 second intervals or a chocolate melting pot. Do not overheat chocolate. You can dip tops of cream puffs into chocolate or spoon chocolate over cream puffs. Let chocolate set before serving.
Raspberry Cream Puffs
For this cream puff recipe, use the recipe and instructions for the puff batter above, but change it up when it comes to the filling and the frosting. Fill each puff with raspberry filling and Bavarian Cream. Simply insert the raspberry filling with a squeeze and then squirt Bavarian cream in through the same hole. The filling will be red streaked with Bavarian cream but no one seems to mind; the streaks are attractive.
See the frosting recipe below:
Ingredients
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<hr class=’system-pagebreak’ />0001pt 17pt; line-height: normal; vertical-align: middle; text-align: left;”>3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla or other flavor
Milk
Directions
Whip the cream cheese until soft. Add the powdered sugar. Stir in the flavor. Add enough milk and continue stirring until it reaches the desired consistency. Dip top of each puff into the frosting. Top with pink sugar or sprinkles while frosting is still wet.
Blueberry Cream Puffs
For this cream puff recipe, use the recipe and instructions for the puff batter above, but change it up when it comes to the filling and the frosting. Fill each puff with blueberry filling and Bavarian Cream. Simply insert the blueberry filling with a squeeze and then squirt Bavarian cream in through the same hole. The filling will be blue streaked with Bavarian cream but no one seems to mind; the streaks are attractive.
See the frosting recipe below:
Ingredients
3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla or other flavor
Milk
Directions
Whip the cream cheese until soft. Add the powdered sugar. Stir in the flavor. Add enough milk and continue stirring until it reaches the desired consistency. Dip top of each puff into the frosting. Top with blue sugar or sprinkles while frosting is still wet.
Lemon Cream Puffs
For this cream puff recipe, use the recipe and instructions for the puff batter above, but change it up when it comes to the filling and the frosting. Fill each puff with lemon filling and Bavarian Cream. Simply insert the lemon filling with a squeeze and then squirt Bavarian Cream in through the same hole. The filling will be yellow streaked with Bavarian Cream but no one seems to mind; the streaks are attractive.
See the frosting recipe below:
Ingredients
3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla or other flavor
Milk
Directions
Whip the cream cheese until soft. Add the powdered sugar. Stir in the flavor. Add enough milk and continue stirring until it reaches the desired consistency. Dip top of each puff into the frosting. Top with blue sugar or sprinkles while frosting is still wet.
Cherry Cream Puffs
For this cream puff recipe, use the recipe and instructions for the puff batter above, but change it up when it comes to the filling and the frosting. Fill each puff with cherry filling and Bavarian Cream. Simply insert the cherry filling with a squeeze and then squirt Bavarian Cream in through the same hole. The filling will be red streaked with Bavarian Cream but no one seems to mind; the streaks are attractive.
See the frosting recipe below:
Ingredients
3 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla or other flavor
Milk
Directions
Whip the cream cheese until soft. Add the powdered sugar. Stir in the flavor. Add enough milk and continue stirring until it reaches the desired consistency. Dip top of each puff into the frosting. Top with red sugar or sprinkles while frosting is still wet.
Author Biography
Dennis Weaver has burnt food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available free in an e-book or as a Kindle book on Amazon for $10.
He loves to help people bake and is giving away Free Digital Cookbooks and Magazines.
There is no cost or obligation.To sign up for the FREE subscription of “Country Home Kitchen” and other great E-books and giveaways, click here.
Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children.
To learn more about The Prepared Pantry, visit our website at www.preparedpantry.com.