Cream Puffs
Cream puffs are a great way to make impressive desserts that wow your guests. Using homemade choux pastry from scratch, these are filled with whipped cream for a quick and tasty treat.
My recent profiteroles were a huge hit with you all and rightfully so. They are impressive. Today, I have decided to share with you something easier: cream puffs. Made with the same choux pastry dough as the profiteroles, these are filled with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
About these cream puffs
There are two components to making these cream puffs, or as they are called in French: Choux a la creme.
The balls – The choux pastry dough itself does not take time to make. In fact, the dough is made in about 15 minutes with another 25 minutes for baking.
Filling – Cream puffs can be filled with almost anything, from simple whipped cream, pastry cream, ice-cream, or mousses. Today, we use whipped cream. But, if you want an easier option, go with store-bought ice cream, it’s the most popular with kids.
Tip – If you want to make these last longer, I highly recommend using stabilized whipped cream. I used stabilized whipped cream so I could make these almost a day ahead of time and they did not become soggy.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Milk – I like to make my choux pastry with half milk and half water. But, you can certainly make it with all water.
- Sugar – Since I am making cream puffs, I used vanilla sugar.
- Butter – I prefer to always use unsalted butter for my baking. But, you can also use salted butter. Make sure to omit salt in the recipe.
- Flour – Simple all-purpose flour is all you need for choux pastry. And, make sure to measure it correctly or your pastries won’t rise.
Step by step instructions
Choux pastry
- Preheat the oven at 190 C / 375 F.
- Chox Pastry dough – In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, over medium heat, add water, milk, salt, sugar, and butter.
- Bring to a boil. Then, turn the heat to low.
- Next, add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula vigorously for 30 to 60 seconds.
- Continue to cook on low for another 30 to 60 seconds or until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan (see video).
- Then, remove from heat and transfer the dough to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can also use a hand mixer as I have in the video.
- Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs – Beat the eggs in a measuring cup.
- Then, start the mixer on medium speed and add the eggs gradually. Stopping in between to ensure everything is well combined.
- You may or may not need all the eggs. What you are looking for is a dropping consistency batter as shown in the video.
- Pipe the choux pastry – Once you’ve reached the desired consistency, transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a large round piping tip.
- Next, line two baking trays with parchment paper and brush with water. This creates steam and helps the pastry to rise.
- Pipe large dots about 1 1/2 inch wide and 1-inch tall (see video).
- Dip your finger in water and press down the piped points so they don’t burn (see video).
- Combine the egg with water to make an egg wash.
- Brush each surface of each puff with egg wash.
- Then, bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Remove them out and prick each one on the bottom with a skewer so they release steam.
- Then, place them back in the oven for 5 minutes (this will help dry them inside).
- Remove from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble
- Whip the cream with powdered sugar until almost stiff peaks.
- Then, transfer to a piping bag with a star piping tip/nozzle.
- Cut each puff in half and pipe a generous whipped cream swirl.
- Place the top back on at an angle.
- Enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Desserts with choux pastry, such as this cream puffs or profiteroles, are best served as soon as they are assembled because the moisture in the filling gets soaked into the pastry. Having said that, any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for two to 3 days.
Yes, if you fill them with a perishable filling such as pastry cream, whipped cream, or ice cream. All of these contain dairy and eggs, which need to be kept chilled at all times.
Yes, you can make the choux pastry dough up to 2 days in advance and keep it in the fridge. And, make sure to place a plastic wrap on the top surface of the pastry to prevent drying out or skin from forming.
If you want to make these last longer I highly recommend using stabilized whipped cream instead of just whipped cream. I used stabilized whipped cream so I could these almost a day head of time and they did not become soggy.
Most people bake choux pastries at two different temperatures, staring with high at first then lowering it mid-way. I find this makes the dough expand too much at high heat causing big cracks on the top, which are not necessarily pleasing. So, I bake my cream puffs at 190 C/ 375 F for 20 to 25 minutes. Prick them, and then bake them for five minutes longer.
Similar. All three are made with choux pastry dough. Profiteroles and cream puffs are little bulbs like these while eclairs are long tubular in shape. Eclairs are best filled with pastry cream, but these can be filled with pastry cream, whipped cream, or ice cream.
Troubleshooting
My choux pastries are flat?
This can happen due to three reasons.
- If the choux pastry dough was runny or softer than the desired consistency it will cause the dough to spread when baking, resulting in a flat baked pastry.
- You opened the oven door during baking letting the steam escape. This causes the choux pastry to sink. As a rule, never open the oven for the first 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Removing the pastry too early from the oven is another reason why it can collapse. If you use the right oven temperature and wait until it’s golden brown you can avoid this.
My choux pastries are soggy?
Again, if you take it out too early or do not prick the base the steam will cool in the pastry causing them to be soggy.
My choux pastry dough is too runny?
This usually means you have added too many eggs. Do not add flour as it will not bake a hollow in the center. Instead, make another batch of choux pastry without the eggs. Then combine the two. You will have more pastries, but at least they won’t be flat. And you can freeze the extra (see freezing instructions above).
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Cream Puffs from Scratch
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Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup (120 ml) Water
- ½ cup (120 ml) Milk
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 4 oz (113 g) Butter
- 1 cup (125 g) All-purpose flour
- 4 Eggs (large)
Filling
- 1 cup (250 ml) Whipping cream (38% and above)
- 2 tbsp Powdered sugar (confectioners or icing sugar)
Garnish
Instructions
Choux Pastry
- Preheat the oven at 190 C / 375 F.
- Chox Pastry dough – In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, over medium heat, add water, milk, salt, sugar, and butter.
- Bring to a boil. Then, turn the heat to low.
- Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula for 30 to 60 seconds.
- Continue to cook on low for another 30 to 60 seconds or until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan (see video).
- Remove from heat and transfer the dough to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You can also use a hand mixer as I have in the video.
- Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- Beat in the eggs – Beat the eggs in a measuring cup.
- Then, start the mixer on medium speed and add the eggs gradually. Stopping in between to ensure everything is well combined.
- You may or may not need all the eggs. What you are looking for is a dropping consistency batter as shown in the video.
- Pipe the choux pastry – Once you've reached the desired consistency transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a large round piping tip.
- Line two baking trays with parchment paper and brush with water. This creates steam and helps the pastry to rise.
- Pipe large dots about 1 1/2 inch wide and 1-inch tall (see video).
- Dip your finger in water and press down the piped points so they don’t burn (see video).
- Combine the egg with water to make an egg wash.
- Brush each surface of each profiterole with egg wash.
- Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Remove them out and prick each one on the bottom with a skewer so they release steam.
- Place them back in the oven for 5 minutes (this will help dry them inside).
- Remove from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble
- Whip the cream with powdered sugar until almost stiff peaks.
- Transfer to a piping bag with a star piping tip/nozzle.
- Cut each puff in half and pipe a generous whipped cream swirl.
- Place the top back on at an angle.
- Enjoy!
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Measure the ingredients correctly as it is critical to this recipe.
- If possible use weight measurement for the flour or use the spoon and level method. Often too much flour can be a cause of failed choux pastry.
- Cook the dough on low heat – high heat will evaporate all the liquid very quickly leaving behind dry flour.
- You want to cook the dough until it leaves the sides of the pan this means the flour has cooked. Another sign is that there will be a thin skin formed at the bottom of the pan.
- Let the choux pastry dough cool for a few minutes before you add the beaten eggs.
- Don’t be tempted to add all the eggs into the dough. You want to pay attention to the consistency as shown in the video. It should drop slowly from the spoon when lifted up.
- Do not forget to brush the baking tray and parchment paper with water. The water helps keep the parchment from moving but most importantly creates steam in the oven that helps these pastries rise beautifully. If you forget to brush with water you can also spray some water over the baking tray after they are piped.
- If you don’t have a piping bag and tip you can use two teaspoons and drop little dough balls on the baking tray. Then shape them with wet fingers.
- NEVER open the oven dough for at least the first 25 minutes of baking or until they are golden.
- Let them release steam. At the last five minutes of baking take them out and prick them at the bottom with a skewer this prevents them from getting soggy or collapsing.
Conversions Used
1 lb = 453 grams, 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 stick = 113g, 1 tbsp= 15 ml, 1 tsp= 5 ml,
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
day 18 done
I made Pate Choux hundreds of times as a kid👩🏼🍳- I didn’t know that it or custard filling was supposed to be anything special. When I had them with whipped cream the first time I was blown away! I was quite the pastry chef and still make a better pie crust and pate sucre than almost any other I’ve had. It’s been a long time though- as part of alienating my children from me my husband shoved me out of the kitchen. I could cook anything: old-school Russian cakes, fruit cakes as they should be, vegetarian meals to die for, risotto, oxtails, Ciopinno … now I cry.
Thanks for the recipe – I should have Ötker’s somewhere as well as plenty of pastry books [and books that run the gamut from Moosewood {became vegetarian in 1982}, Laurel’s Kitchen {hardcore vegetarian}, “normal” vegetarian, NYTimes, CIA, Fanny Farmer, every trend, the entire Time-Life collection … ]. Ötker’s (or Oetker’s!) app is(are) supposed to be German & English but last I looked were all German. Translation apps may be better able to handle recipes by now. 🤷🏽 All that and no one to cook for.