Cream Puff Filling

I know, they just look like brown blobs, but you should be used to my craptastic pictures by now.

  So earlier this week I posted about making Pate A Choux, or cream puffs as they are called.  Well by me at least.  Feel free to call them what you want.  So I wanted to share with you what I filled and topped mine with.  Firstly I was planning on using some sort of whip cream filling, I wanted the lightness of an eclair but I wanted something more stable than just whipping up some whip cream.  So I went to google and found this recipe for a cream cheese whip cream frosting. The reviews said it was nice and light and stayed nice and stable.  Well maybe I did something wrong, but who knows, I never was one to really follow directions properly.

I hate chopping chocolate, it is right up there with cleaning.  

  So to start I wanted to top my cream puffs with chocolate some how, as the filling was not going to be too sweet at all.  So I made a simple chocolate ganache. 

Chocolate Ganache

from, no idea, I just googled it

-9 ounces semi sweet chocolate

-1 cup heavy cream

See at this point the chocolate is just starting to melt, and I always think I have ruined it some how.

Chop up the chocolate and set aside.  Take a sauce pan and rinse it with cold water* then put in the heavy cream and heat until it just starts to bubble.  Then pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for at least 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes slowly mix it together until it becomes fluid and all consistent.  I hate this part as it always seems like my chocolate is getting all chunky and I think I have ruined it, but keep at it, it gets better.

*I do this as in school they taught us to when we were heating any kind of milk, I think it helps keep the fat in the milk from scorching on the pot, I could be wrong, but I do it anyway.

But then it turns into this and it's all good.

  Then the filling.

Cream cheese whip cream frosting

From All recipes

-1 8oz block of cream cheese

-1/2 cup white sugar

-1 TSP vanilla bean paste

-1/2 TSP almond extract

-2 cups heavy cream

See how it is holding it's shape?  It went flat after being in the fridge over night.

  Start by creaming the cheese and sugar, add the vanilla and almond.  I found that the almond I used was too strong, even the little bit I used so I might skip it next time, it gave the filling a boozy taste.  And if there is no booze in it, why have that right?  And now I want to make a boozy version.

Hello little cream puff.

I feel kind of badly just stabbing it like this, but it works.

 Sorry, back to the filling.  So once that is done, slowly add your cream while you whip the filling until it is nice and thick and sturdy.  I found that the left overs settled after being in the fridge over night.  Not sure if I had not whipped it enough or what, but I just whipped it again and it was all good.

And see, filled all the way, more is always better I say.

Ready to take the plunge.

Oh yeah!

  So to fill your cream puffs the easiest way is to use a pipping bag.  You don't really need a tip, but it may be easier.  The right way to do this, and you all know I didn't do it this way, is to cut a slit in the bottom of your cream puff to allow the pipping tip in.  What I did was look for a weak part of the cream puff and jam my pipping tip in.  It worked, may not be as nice, but it worked.  Then you squeeze the pipping bag slowly until the whole cream puff is filled, you will know when it is done when the pipping bag starts to push out of the puff.

 Then I took the filled cream puff and dipped the top in the ganache, and set them on a platter and put them in the fridge.  

Yum, I love chocolate.

  And that was it.  Now I found that the actual pastry got a little soft, probably due to the filling and the fridge, but I liked it that way, crispy puffs is not what I wanted.

  So I so want to make these again, and try different fillings, or even make them with ice cream inside, then dip the whole thing in chocolate.  

 Great now I'm hungry.

And I had to try one, and this is what happened, it squished right up and made a mess.  So be smart when you eat these, use a napkin and maybe a fork or something.  Or you too can be covered in cream puff filling.