Sunday, January 02, 2011

Puffy Pastries

Just because the holidays are over, doesn't mean we don't have other things to celebrate.  For instance, today is National Cream Puff Day. 

Mom used to make cream puffs for us when we were on the farm growing up, and I can still see her standing by the stove stirring her homemade vanilla filling.  The puffs were hollow, just waiting to be filled with a spoonful of the luscious creamy pudding.  Then she'd sprinkle a dusting of powdered sugar over 'em.

I've never made cream puffs, but that shall soon be remedied.  I found a recipe in the new cookbook I received for Christmas, and it's so simple.  Put 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup butter in a pan until boiling.  Add 1 cup of flour all at once, and stir until dough leaves the sides of the pan.  Remove from heat, and add 4 eggs one at a time, beating between each egg.  Drop small spoonsful onto a greased baking pan.  Bake 15 minutes at 450 degrees.  Turn heat down to 300 degrees and bake additional 30 to 40 minutes.

Sorry to say, my cream puffs will be filled with a store-bought vanilla pudding mix.  Trying new recipes is one thing, but I'm simply not domestic enough to fiddle around making a pudding from scratch.  I must be missing the wooden-spoon gene, or something like that.