Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Cream puffs for Mother's Day!






A treat for Mom on Mother’s Day

Mom came for dinner tonight - nothing special, just burgers & brats.  The sun is finally shining, and the screens are up on the door, so it MUST be time to grill. Granted, D is a year-round griller, but that’s beside the point.
Anyway, I asked Mom what she’d like for dessert, and she requested... cream puffs.
Delightful!  They are so easy, and can be customized in any number of ways, although we tend to stick to the tried and true.  If you like them but have never made them, you’ll love this simple treat!
Simple Cream Puff Shells

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat water and butter to a boil;

stir in flour.  Stir over low heat for 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball.  Remove from heat and stir in eggs one at a time until mixture is smooth.  Spray cookie sheet with baking spray, and drop large tablespoons of mixture onto sheet.  


Bake for 35-37 minutes.  This batch makes 12-15 puffs.

Cool for about 30 minutes, then cut off top third of each puff and pull out any strands of soft dough.  

Fill with your choice of sweet treat, ex pudding, whipped cream, fruit pie filling, etc.  You can garnish the top with a myriad of things, too, although I almost always go with frosting  :)
My family usually chooses to fill the shells with vanilla pudding (Jello makes a really yummy sugar/fat free version).  I personally always like the texture of a cook & serve vs. instant.




There are a ton of options for what you can create.  Lemon cream pairs well with a dusting of powdered sugar or a thin vanilla glaze.  
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Peppermint flavored whipped cream would be amazing with a dark chocolate ganache.

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Using your own imagination as your guide, you can customize a cream puff into almost anything.  Try some soon, and let me know what you did to make them your own!






xoxo,
Tami

ps... all those egg shells that you toss away every week?  Coffee grounds? 


They're the bomb for your garden.  Bell peppers especially benefit from the shells, as they're almost entirely calcium and can all but eliminate blossom drop.  Coffee grounds are great in clay like soil to lighten it up, and the residual caffeine is a growth stimulator.  Hey, recycling is cool!

Also... If you like what you're seeing and you read *still crazy* anyway, please jump on the bandwagon and become a follower!  I love knowing that there are folks out there actually reading what I'm putting out there.  :)


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4 comments:

keatseatsblog said...

Oh my gosh! these look great! and they look so much easier than I would have ever guessed. I'll definitely be trying these :) Hope you can swing by blog and link up today! www.somethingswanky.com

Miz Helen said...

Hi Tami,
Love, Love, Love, your cream puffs with all that wonderful chocolate running of the top, oh my! That would be a wonderful Mothers Day Gift for me. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you next week!

Amy said...

These are some perfect looking cream puffs! My mom and I love cream puffs and what a great way to celebrate! :) Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful weekend.

Amy
http://utry.it

Lisa said...

You're so wonderful to make these cream puffs for your mom. I have no doubt that she is going to love every bite of them. I know I would. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I'd like to invite you to stop by and link your cream puffs up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/05/sweets-for-saturday-16.html