Cream puffs in a jiffy
4 Dec
These cream puffs set a personal record for the quickest dessert ever! I actually don’t even remember taking these photos. Though I was rushing, they were edible, thankfully. And my friends are far too kind, always telling me that whatever I make them is good. 
Now… I feel this need to confess that I cheated and used instant vanilla pudding mix for the filling. If I had more time, I would have made some whipped cream.
Contrary to popular belief, cream puffs are quite easy to make. It’s a butter based crust combined with a sweet cream filling. How can you go wrong?
Recipe: Cream puffs in a jiffy
Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients:
2 (3.5 ounce) packages of instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups of heavy cream
1 cup of milk
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 cup of water
8 tbsp (1 stick) of unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 piping bag*
Dark chocolate chips (optional)
Procedure:
1. Heat oven to 425 F.
2. Mix together vanilla instant pudding mix, heavy cream and milk using a hand held mixer or a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Combine until all the powder from the pudding mix have dissolved. About 5 minutes.
3. Move filling to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate to set.
4. In a saucepan, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball.
5. Very important: Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl, away from heat and residual heat from the saucepan. Otherwise, the dough will curdle.
6. Using a wooden spoon, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
7. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the oven until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
9. When the shells are cool, split and scrape out the insides using a fork.
10. Use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.
*If you don’t have piping bag, fill a Ziplock bag with pudding and cut off one of the corners to substitute.
Bonus: for eclairs, you can melt some dark chocolate over a double broiler with butter and dip these. YUM!!!
