Cream Puffs

This was an attempt for a fancy dessert when we had guests over and it was actually surprisingly easy. First you make "choux paste", which is kind of fun.
Combine in a saucepan:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
8 Tbs. butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then add 1 cup of flour all at once. Stir until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan (this is very cool - it makes dishes easy). Continue to stir and cook for about 1 minute. Put the mixture in a bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Beat in 4 eggs - one at a time; make sure the paste is smooth before adding the next one. Now, you can shape the dough into round balls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Get your fingers a little wet so the dough doesn't stick to them. I made 12 from this much dough.
Preheat the oven to 400F and bake the puffs for 15 minutes.
Look how cool it is that they puff up just like they're supposed to:


Reduce the oven temperature to 350F and continue to bake about 25 more minutes. Turn off the oven, poke the bottom of each puff, turn upside down on the baking sheet, and let them dry in the oven for 10 minutes.


When you're ready to serve them, cut off the tops and put some filling in the middle. I served them with pudding, though I think you're "supposed" to make whipped cream as the filling.

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