Cream Puffs

Alright folks, here you have it; Cream Puffs
These are oh-so-satisfying and impressive looking. They're a bit of work, about 8 million calories, but not actually hard to make.

First, the filling:
1 large (5.1oz) package of Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding mix. I KNOW, I KNOW! It feels like cheating but I promised they'd be easy. Nobody ever asks what the filling is anyway and if they do you say "Vanilla Creme".
16oz heavy cream (2 cups or the small container)
1 cup milk

Mix all of this together and then refrigerate it to set. If you do this first it'll be ready to go by the time the puffs have cooled.

The Puffs
1 stick of butter
1 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon of salt (Haha! I laugh at you again if you think I measure this. I just add a "dash")
1 cup of flour
4 eggs

In a decent sized pot bring the butter and water to a rolling boil. This is when I scramble around for the other ingredients, which are thankfully few. It gets to boiling rather quickly. Bring it off the heat and add in the flour and salt. You can mix this up easily with a spoon to form a pretty satisfying ball of dough reminiscent of playdough, without the cool colors or creepy smell. I throw the whole thing into my 50lb Kitchenaid mixer. (On a side note, that monstrosity was given to me by my cousin Nino. He found it at a garage sale on Singer Island or some such. It lived in my car for a year because I couldn't motivate myself to carry it up to my then 3rd floor apartment. Once I did, it got a major cleaning with the Magic Eraser (it really is magical!!!) and some bleach. It is now my FAVORITE kitchen appliance. Love it! Thank you Nino!)

Back to the task at hand, I put the dough in the mixer and add the eggs one at a time, making sure it gets really well mixed in between. It has to mix continuously so that the eggs don't cook in the hot dough, but rather later, in the oven.

You end up with this beautiful golden sludge that smells like eggs and butter (irresistible to me). Drop it by heaping tablespoonfuls onto an un-greased cookie sheet. I like to put down parchment paper, but you don't have to.



Pop those bad boys into the oven for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees. I get really excited every time I make these because they puff up so impressively and I feel all accomplished. This is why I love food.



The next oh-look-at-me-I'm-a-real-chef thing you get to do is fill the puffs. Put the filling into a large ziplock bag. I set my bag up in a tall container and just scoop it in (see "exhibit D" below:)



Try to squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can and then get all the filling onto one side. The goal is turn turn this into your own pastry bag. Snip a small piece of the corner off the bag and you have the perfect tool for squeezing the filling directly into your mouth. It's also good for filling the puffs. I make a small hole in each puff (once they've cooled) and squeeze in the filling (it's like putting toothpaste into a balloon. Is that weird? That's the best description I can think of.) I like mine pretty full so that they kind of explode in your mouth. Give them a good dusting of powdered sugar, thus ensuring your 8 million calories, and enjoy!