Cream Puffs
Happy 2010! I say this every year, but man, I can’t believe another year has slipped by with so many things still unchecked on my to-do list.
I have a few goals this year: find a job, be kinder to the environment, spend more time with the ones I love. For this blog, I hope to find more recipes like this one that tell personal stories.
My mother-in-law’s mother, Dorothy, was known for bringing these cream puffs to family gatherings. I learned how to make them from my mother-in-law who started making these and bringing them to different gatherings after her mother passed away.
It’s a classic sweet treat with gooey vanilla pudding cradled in light airy pastry. The chocolate on top gives an extra decadent touch. Be armed with a napkin in hand. They will smear all over your lips and melt all over your fingers.
My mother-in-law has made these cream puffs savory by eliminating the chocolate and switching out the vanilla pudding with creamy seafood salad. They work well as appetizers for a meal or finger food for a potluck.
I’ve never met Dorothy, but through these cream puffs, I got a sense of the tall, bespectacled and sweet grandma Nick always talks about. I hope this has inspired you to seek out recipes in your family. Make them, adapt them and share them.
Cream Puffs
- Unsalted butter, ½ cup (1 stick)
- Water, 1 cup
- All-purpose flour, 1 cup
- Salt, ¼ teaspoon
- Eggs, 4 large
- Instant vanilla pudding, 1 box
- Chocolate chips, 1/3 cup
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Boil water. Melt butter in water. Add flour and salt to the water all at once. Stir vigorously until mixture becomes a ball. Remove from heat, cool, stir in eggs, one at a time. Beat vigorously after each until smooth.
Drop batter one heaping tablespoon at a time, two inches apart on the lined baking sheet.
Bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 degrees and bake for 25 minutes more. Remove and cool.
Mix instant vanilla pudding according to the instructions on the box.
Melt chocolate in a double boiler and set aside to cool.
Cut the top off cream puffs and fill with vanilla pudding. Smear melted chocolate on the top.
Makes about 20 cream puffs.
How very sweet of you to include this family recipe and to mention my mother. We had these at Thanksgiving this year and they were as good as my mom used to make.