Raspberry Rose Cream Puffs

Cream puffs were one of those elusive baking projects I had just resigned myself to never understanding. There was magic there that belonged only to… I dunno… Italian or French grandmothers that just wasn’t for my self-taught baker brain.  I got over that little hurdle I set for for myself and unlocked the magic of pâte à choux (that’s the French name for this specific pastry) and the great news is: it’s actually pretty simple and totally home-kitchen worthy. 

I will also say that I had cream puffs in the same class as cannolis as something unattainable to me in my home kitchen and that still holds true.  Maybe that just holds true because I’ve had the best cannolis of my life in Philly and there’s just no coming back from that… ya know?

So today – we cream puff. 

Incidentally if you’re still feeling intimidated at the thought of the puff, we’re making these cream puffs TOGETHER this Saturday with The Bakehouse Live.  There are still a few spots left! We’ll go step-by-step. You can ask me all sorts of questions.  It’s like you’re inviting me over to bake with you but you don’t have to vacuum. So, ya know – we all win. 

Here’s what we’re doing today. We’re gathering our gumption. We’re getting ready to impress ourselves. 

This recipe is essentially a set of three mini recipes – but don’t feel intimidated – it’s actually pretty simple. 

We’re making cream puffs. We’re making raspberry whipped cream.  We’re making chocolate ganache. 

For the cream puffs we’ll need butter and water, flour and salt, and the magic of four large eggs. 

For the whipped cream we’ll use heavy cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, rose water, and sweetened fresh raspberries.  If you don’t have rose water, a dash of almond extract is also a lovely idea. 

For the chocolate ganache we’ll just use heavy cream and dark chocolate chips or chunks. If the chocolate ganache feels like too much, these cream puffs are also delicious without the chocolate.  But I mean… chocolate makes just about everything better so you know what to do. 

Unlike most baked goods, cream puffs start in a small saucepan.  We’ll melt butter into water over medium heat and bring it to a quick boil.  Once the mixture simmers we’ll add the flour and salt and stir to combine. 

This might feel like the weirdest baking ever, bit just go with me on this.  

The flour will absorb the water and butter and come together into a soft dough in the saucepan.  Stir the dough over low heat to steam off some of the moisture. 

Here’s where a stand mixer of electric hand beaters comes in.  

I’m using a stand mixer so that’s the language I’ll use. 

Place the warm cooked dough in the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit and cool for 10 minutes or so.  

Next, using the paddle attachment, we’ll begin to slowly stir the cooked dough, releasing more heat and steam. 

The dough won’t be completely cool before we add the eggs, but we want to cool the dough such that it doesn’t cook the eggs when they’re added.  

Add eggs, one at a time, beating on medium-low speed for 1 minute between each addition.  We really want to give the eggs time to incorporate and aerate – that’s why we’re so specific with the timing. 

After the 4 eggs are added the batter will be glossy, smooth and scoopable. 

I used my big-boy large cookie scoop to portion the batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet. It’s a scant 1/4 cup per puff. 

Bake in a hot hot oven without peaking and the eggs we spent all that time incorporating will pop these puffs just so. 

It’s actual magic. Well… science but science seems like magic sometimes. 

While the puffs bake, it’s time to assemble the cream. 

I started with fresh raspberries which I smashed with a bit of sugar and splash of rose water. 

You can truly use any fruit that feels good to you! 

Whip sweetened cream to soft to medium-soft peaks.  

Just enough for the cream to hold its shape plus a few whisks more.  

We’ll gently fold our smashed fruit into our fluffed cream.

I like to barely stir the mixture so I have streaks of fruit through my cream. 

Set in the refrigerator to remain chilled while the puffs cool and ganache is assembled. 

Do you know how easy it is to make ganache? It’s criminal, really. 

Place chocolate chunks in a bowl, pour hot hot cream over it.  Leave it for a few minutes before stirring to glossy smooth. 

That’s it! Then you just spoon it directly into your mouth until you can’t anymore, jkjkjk.

Just before we’re ready to serve these gems we’ll split the puffs in two and fill them with whipped cream.

Add the tops and, if you haven’t eaten all of the ganache with a spoon, dollop it atop each cream puff.  

They’re best served on petite china plates, right away, with black coffee or cold champagne. 

Take on this baking adventure with me!  They’re crisp and eggs, fluffy sweet and rose scented.  They taste… pretty and that’s what we deserve this weekend. 

Photos with my dear Jon Melendez. 

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