Old Fashioned Cream Puffs with Pastry Cream are easy to make and require only a few simple ingredients. Airy pastry shells filled with a creamy pastry cream, topped with chocolate, maraschino cherries, and dusted with powdered sugar.
These delicious creations come straight from my grandmother’s kitchen.
Much of my talent was handed down from my grandmothers’ and my mom. Handmade talent runs deep in my family and my parents insisted I learn how to craft everything homemade, to be self-sufficient. One of the best creations my French Canadian grandmother made was Old Fashioned Cream Puffs with Pastry Cream.
I absolutely adored watching my grandmother, effortlessly working over her stove top whipping up hearty dinners, while fresh coffee peculates. The smells that came from her kitchen made your stomach growl. She is one of the reasons I’m so passionate about cooking and baking whatever I can from scratch. That doesn’t mean I don’t love a dinner out. But, it brings me such joy to grown our own vegetable garden, bake from scratch, and make homemade dinners. It’s a way of life that was handed down generations, along with family heirloom recipes. One of her most cherished delights is Old Fashioned Cream Puffs with Pastry Cream.
To make Pastry Cream:
Simply combine one package of instant vanilla pudding, almond extract, and 1 cup milk. Then fold together with the whipped heavy cream. My grandmother created this egg-less version of pastry cream, so it is easier to transport during hot summer months!
This mixture works great for Pastry with Berries. (a recipe from my cookbook: A Farmgirl’s Table)
It’s a shortbread crust with grandma’s pastry filling and topped with fresh fruit and/or berries. Perfect for all your summer entertaining!
Prepare ahead of time:
Prepare the cream puffs the night before your picnic. Place them on a half sheet pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. Dust them with powdered sugar right before serving.
More dessert recipes:
Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake
Do you love all of my recipes? I’d LOVE to hear from you- please leave a comment with a star rating if you have a moment!
Old Fashioned Cream Puffs with Pastry Cream
Straight from the kitchen of my grandmother.
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening or butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs room temperature
Pastry Cream
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
Chocolate Ganache
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- maraschino cherries, mint leaf candies, and powdered sugar for garnish (drain the maraschino cherries)
Instructions
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To make cream puffs, in a medium saucepan bring the water to a boil. Add the shortening or butter, and salt. Let the water return to a full boil and then remove from the heat. Add the flour, stirring until the mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of the pan. Using an electric hand mixer on high speed, add the eggs one at a time, making sure to mix well between additions. The mixture will be very smooth and silky looking. Allow cream puff batter to cool completely.
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
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Using two large tablespoon drop the batter in about 8 to 9 scoops on the prepared baking pan. (or use a cookie scoop) Bake for 15 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set pan on a baking rack to cool.
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To make the pastry filling, in a large bowl add the vanilla pudding, milk, and almond extract; blend together. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator. When ready to fill cream puffs, add the heavy cream to a large bowl and use an electric hand mixer to whip to stiff peaks. Fold the pudding mixture and whipped cream together using a spatula.
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Slice the tops off the cream puffs, removing and discarding some of the pastry with your fingers. Scoop the filling into each cream puff.
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To make the chocolate ganache, create a double boiler by bringing a medium pot of water to a simmer over medium heat. Place a heatproof bowl on top of the boiling water, adding the chocolate chips, butter, heavy cream, and corn syrup to the bowl. Stir mixture together with a spatula until the chocolate is melted and combined. Drizzle warm chocolate over top of the pastry filled cream puffs. Decorated with drained maraschino cherries and mint leaf candies. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
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TIP: You can prepare cream puffs the night before, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. They will last in the fridge for about 2 days.
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These are beyond gorgeous Jessica! I always thought cream puffs were too hard to make at home, and boy was I wrong about that. What a beautiful family heirloom recipe, thank you so much for sharing it with us. I am hungry now!
These cream puffs look so amazing! What a lovely dessert idea!
How darling are these little guys!!! Yum!!
Your cream puffs are beautiful! Mine turned out a little more sloppy, lol, but they tasted delicious!
Aw, how sweet that you have those memories with your grandmother. These cream puffs look absolutely delectable. I can’t remember the last time I had a cream puff but I’m totally craving this now.
Chrissy,
Thanks so much! I love all of her handwritten recipes. Such cherished memories!
These look completely decadent! There is nothing like a cream puff!
All of my skills came from spending time in the kitchen with my grandmothers and mom too. Your cream puff is a little different than our handed down recipe… Im looking forward to trying it to see how it compares, I love doing side by side taste testing… :).
these look beautiful!!! i absolutely love cream puffs, they’re probably my favourite dessert! they’re small, therefore I can have more than one right!? 😉
Cream puffs are one of my favorite childhood memories. I still remember the first time I bit into one of these fluffy desserts filled with the most delicious pastry cream. Your recipe looks divine, I’ll be trying it soon! 🙂
Wow, these Old Fashioned Cream Puffs with Pastry Cream are so cute! I would love to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Thank you for sharing this great recipe! Yum Yum Yum!!!!
I love cream puffs! It’s definitely one of my top favorite desserts in the world – to eat and to make 🙂 These look amazing! I love the pastry cream filling – it’s simply the best.
Cream puffs were ALWAYS a favorite growing up and I still love them! This recipe brings me back for sure. Looks absolutely delicious!
These look like they would be a great addition to our upcoming bake sale at church! People would love these!
Thanks so much Erika!! These are such a loved dessert. Just keep in mind, they need to be refrigerated. 🙂
Oh my this looks so good.
I’m not a great cook so not sure if it will come out the way it should if I try
But you have mee craving these for sure
These are super simple to make Nabanita! Just follow the step by step instructions and you’ll be loving these!
Oh yum! I’m sure I’d love these. And they look pretty too. You’re so talented.
Yum, do these look good! I would love to make these for someone or bring them to an even as a dessert! I’ll be pinning this for later!
Oh my goodness! These look so yummy and beautiful too! I have always loved cream puffs! Thank you for sharing!
Omg my daughter saw the photos and she told me we should bake one too! Can you try some recipe with coconut flour next time? Thank you
Thanks for visiting! King Arthur Flour makes a great gluten free flour mix and you could probably substitute that in this recipe. 🙂
oh my god…. so heavenly, I love these but I never tried baking them at home. thank you for sharing this recipe
It cannot just be me; somethings simply taste better when they also look pretty! These are awesome examples, I already know they taste delicious!
You had me at cream puffs!! These look absolutely gorgeous. Your plating is on point too!
xoxo
Annie
Your new recipe makes me feel excited to learn more about its preparation, and devour it! Thanks and I will save it 😀
These look delicious and they are so photogenic too! Thanks for the recipe, I’d love to give them a go 🙂
They look so yummy
Great presentation as well. I am drooling.
Omg how yummy do these cream puffs look! I seriously want a whole plate of them. Going to give it a try and make a batch.
Goodness are these like the yummiest things in the world! They look delishhhh!
Oh my gosh. I feel like I can taste them just looking at them. So. Hungry.
I do a pot a choux recipe from Alton Brown to do something similar every Christmas. But this seems worth trying out. I would be nervous about the pastry cream though. It always made me a bit wary and I didn’t love it all that much any way. I usually make a chocolate whipped cream for my eclairs instead. I would love to try this though.
Thanks David. My grandmother made this recipe and she was likely leery of eggs in true pastry cream at picnics, etc. This pastry cream is SO simple to make and SO delicious! I hope you’ll try it!
These we’re amazing!!! I made them for a big family dinner and made them a little smaller but wow!! Now my entire family thinks I’m this amazing baker who spent the entire day in the kitchen!!! So good!!
Jalynn,
Thanks so much!! I’m happy that you enjoyed the cream puffs!!
These are so soooo cute!! Pinning to make for the holidays 🙂
Thank you so much Silvia!