Desserts

Cream Puffs

Cream Puffs Recipe

Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine

Photo Credit : Katherine Keenan

The choux pastry that forms the shell for these custard-filled delights dates back several hundred years, and cream-filled puffs have been around at least since the days of Antoine Careme, the famous 18th-century French pastry chef. But here in America, many people associate cream puffs with dessert buffets of the 1950s and 1960s. (Choux pastry puffs were also commonly stuffed with savory fillings, such as chicken or egg salad.)

Yield:

24 to 34 cream puffs, depending on size

Ingredients

2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
2 cups water
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
8 large eggs

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425° and set a rack to the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put butter and water in a medium saucepan on high heat and bring to a simmer. Add flour and salt all at once and stir until mixture forms a smooth ball. Remove from heat. Transfer dough to a bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Spoon or pipe balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Transfer to the oven and cook until the puffs are nicely browned, 25 to 30 minutes (try not to open the oven door; look through the window instead). Reduce heat to 350° and bake an additional 20 minutes to dry the puffs out. Remove from oven and cut a small slit into the side of each puff to let the steam out. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Yankee Magazine

More by Yankee Magazine

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Login to post a comment