Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Cream Puffs

After last week’s somewhat-of-a-failure with the first recipe from Dorie’s new Around My French Table cookbook for French Fridays With Dorie for gougeres (cheesy cream puffs), I wasn’t about to let the fact that my gougeres puffed up in the oven (twice) and then deflated when I took them out rule me defeated in pate a choux or cream puffs.  So on Sunday, I found a recipe for sweet Cream Puffs on the Joy of Baking website and decided to make dessert instead of using more expensive cheese for the gougeres.  Same concept, but I was able to fill them with two different kinds of sweet cream—French vanilla and chocolate.   Kevin loves cream puffs, eclairs, profiteroles and the like.  (They are not my favorite thing, in fact, I didn’t even taste the ones I made on Sunday.)

But get a look at this---

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That’s right, uh huh, my cream puffs puffed!  (Doing the happy rap dance.)  The choux pastry recipe from Joy of Baking is different from the gougeres.  But only slightly.  There is no milk and there is a tiny bit of added sugar.  I love that these were brushed with a little egg wash that made them shine.

I made the yummy “cheater” filling for half of these with the recipe for the Boston Cream Whoopie Pies filling, which uses French vanilla pudding mix, milk and heavy cream and whips into a perfect creamy filling for the whoopie pies AND these cream puffs.  This recipe for cream puffs only makes 12, so I filled six of them with the French vanilla cream and after making some ganache for the tops of them (4 ounces 60% chocolate chips and 1/2 cup cream), I had a bunch of the ganache left over after dipping some of the tops of the puffs in it, so I spooned up a good 1/3-1/2 cup of the ganache and added it to the rest of the vanilla pudding cream and folded it together to get a really good whipped chocolate cream.  Kevin and the boys had a hard time deciding which they liked best.  While I didn’t taste an actual cream puff all made up, I’d have to vote for the chocolate cream filling as the best.  (Surprise!) ;)

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Which one would you go for?

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One of each, please.  You got it.

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I would make these again in a heartbeat for a shower or party or just because Kevin and the boys really liked them.  And I’m happy to have perfected pate a choux/cream puffs!  I might even try those gougeres again sometime, I really think they just weren’t baked long enough to keep that crispy exterior from protecting the inside (even though I baked them for the recommended time, I’d bake them longer next time.)

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget if you haven’t already to enter the giveaway from CSN Stores going on right now, until Friday, October 8 at noon, MST.  (US and Canada residents only please.)

18 comments:

Cristine said...

They look beautiful! I will take one (or two!) of each!

Lisa said...

Your cream puffs are true bakery quality. They should be called Dream Puffs instead, especially the one with the ganache glaze. I'm with you in that I've never cared for cream puffs, eclairs, or any other type of cream filled pastry either. But, since my family loves cream puffs so much, I'll have to save this recipe for them.

Mimi said...

Ah, the sweet taste of success!
Mimi

Emily said...

Wowza! Oh my! These look great. I would go with the chocolat glazed. :)

Jaime said...

congrats on getting the puffs!! :)

and how did i never notice before that you have FOUR kids?!? wow you are a super mom to do all this baking and keep up w/them :)

spike. said...

Yay! They puffed! gorgeous

Pam said...

Oh what I would give for a couple of those beauties right now.

Anonymous said...

They turned out perfect. I'll take a chocolate-filled one please!

Twila said...

Your cream puffs look wonderful, but I have a question about the apple cake. Mine turned out very heavy, (and stuck to the pan something fierce!) But I went ahead and iced it anyway with a caramel icing. I thought it might be a total waste, but my husband and I found it to be quite tasty, especially with coffee. The recipe called for only a half teaspoon of baking soda, and I wondered if that is correct? Thanks!

Lisa Ernst said...

Very impressive and professional looking! Will you be starting a baking business when your boys get older? Or would that take the fun away?

Unknown said...

Yayy! Congrats. Joining you for the goofy happy dance :)

Fallon said...

This post reminds me I haven't had a cream puff in a while! I'm not usually a big fan of custard filling stuff but a delicious cream puff is something I can't pass up!

Jacque said...

Yeaaa! Success!! Those look like they belong in a magazine :)

Pamela said...

Those are perfect! I think I'd like the chocolate one! Looks great.

Mary @Delightful Bitefuls said...

Oh... I will have at least one of each ;) Those look so great!

Love your blog :)

Mary xo
Delightful Bitefuls

Liz said...

Wow, those are some picture-perfect cream puffs, lady. You're mastering the art of french cooking already. :)

Natalie said...

these look PERFECT! I can't wait to try them sometime!

the blissful baker said...

yum! i made cream puffs recently too, and they were scrumptious!