Nana's Cream Puffs! (finally!)

The girls and I just made these today and they passed inspection. The only complaint from the girls was that the chocolate was too bitter for them (I used 60% cocoa).

I know it looks like a lot and maybe too much to do; however, I wanted to write out the steps clearly. It really was not that hard and it is just the time of waiting for things to cool that is the hard part.

Here is the recipe and some photos! Let me know if anything is unclear or you have questions.

This recipe will make about 10-12 cream puffs


How to make the Vanilla Cream Filling (2 step process)

Ingredients/items needed:

2 packages vanilla pudding (cooking type, not instant)
3 Cups milk
Plastic wrap
1 Cup very cold heavy whipping cream (an older cream (check the date on the container) whips better than newer cream)
1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure when possible)
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
Speak of salt
Small to medium sized sauce pan/pot
Large mixing bowl
Mixer (unless you have really strong arms) and COLD/Chilled mixing bowl with cold beater(s)

Instructions:
1. In sauce pan, prepare pudding using three cups milk.
2. Pour into bowl and put plastic wrap on top of the mixture (so it won’t develop a skin).
3. Chill in refrigerator for approximately two hours.
4. STOP HERE AND go to HOW TO MAKE CREAM PUFF SHELLS while you are waiting for the pudding to chill, about two hours

AFTER pudding has chilled and AFTER you have made the shells….
5. Pour the whipping cream into the COLD mixing bowl along with the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, corn syrup and salt.
6. Whip until the cream is stiff and forms well-defined peaks. Don’t walk away and leave this while it is beating, though, for the mixture can turn into butter in a matter of second.
7. Take out the pudding out from the refrigerator and remove the plastic from the top
8. Fold the whipped cream into the pudding


How to make the Cream Puff Shells

Ingredients/items needed:
½ cup butter or oil
1 cup water
1 cup sifted flour
¼ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
Slightly greased cookie baking sheet
Small to medium sized sauce pan/pot
Mixer (unless you have really strong arms) and mixing bowl
Round Soup spoon
Cooling racks
Small knife

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Bring water to a boil
3. Add butter or oil and melt
4. Add flour and salt into the water stirring vigorously
5. Keep stirring until it forms a ball that won’t separate
6. Remove from heat
7. Put dough ball into mixing bowl and let it cool slightly
8. Put mixer on medium to low speed
9. Add 1 egg at a time, beating after each addition until mixture is smooth
10. Take a round soup spoon and put spoonfuls onto slightly greased cookie sheet about 1 ½ inches apart
11. Put into preheated oven for 15 minutes
12. REDUCE HEAT to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 25 minutes
13. Shells should be high & puffy
14. Remove from oven and place shells on cooling rack until cool
15. When cool, make a slit close to the bottom and remove the soft inner dough (note, you have a choice here, you can either cut off the top third of each puff and scoop out the soft dough in the center OR make a small or medium size hole in the bottom or side of the puff. Whichever you choose, this will be how you end up putting the cream into the puff. So, you will either have a “sandwich” type puff if you cut off the top, or a complete intact puff more like an “éclair” type if you have a smaller hole)

How to make the Chocolate Icing

Ingredients/items needed:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¾ cups heavy whipping cream
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (you can use a sweeter chocolate or flavored chocolate if you like)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (always use pure when possible)
Small to medium sized sauce pan/pot
A dozen or so toothpicks
Plastic wrap

Instructions:
1. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream just to a boil
2. Remove from the heat.
3. Add the chocolate, butter and vanilla
4. Let stand just until the chocolate is melted
5. Whisk until smooth
6. Drizzle some of the chocolate sauce over the puffs and serve, saving the remaining sauce for garnish and decoration
7. This icing must be lukewarm to ice the cream puffs. If it is too hot, it will run off; if too cold, it will not spread very easily
8. Place a few toothpicks in the taller cream puffs and then gentle cover creampuffs with the plastic wrap. (The toothpicks help to keep the plastic off of the chocolate)
9. Put creampuffs in refrigerator for about a half hour (if possible) for the chocolate to set.

Making the dough ball


Adding the eggs, one at a time...


Putting dough onto cookie sheet


The finished shells


Insides taken out of shells


Filling shells with cream


Putting on the chocolate (very artistically)


Finished Cream Puffs!