If homemade pastry intimidates you, don’t let it! Sure there are some super complicated pastry recipes that are quite tricky to take on at home, but cream puffs aren’t one of them. They are honestly one of THE easiest things to make. They’re made from a dough called Pâte à Choux, which requires only a few very basic ingredients like eggs, flour, and butter. It literally takes minutes to make and you’ll feel so fancy. You can make so many awesome things with this basic dough, like pipe it long for eclairs, or even fry it for churros. Add some good cheese, and you’ve got savory puffs called Gougers!
These Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cream Puffs are perfect for Valentine’s Day, but you can easily customize the filling to make it fit right in for any holiday!
Ingredients Needed
- Pastry:
- all-purpose flour
- unsalted butter
- sugar
- salt
- eggs
- Egg Wash:
- egg
- water
- Strawberry Cream Filling:
- unflavored gelatin – like Knox, found near Jell-o in the baking aisle
- cold water
- heavy cream
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- freeze-dried strawberries
- Chocolate Ganache:
- semi-sweet chocolate
- heavy whipping cream
- Equipment:
How to Make Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cream Puffs
This is a simple overview of the recipe, you’ll find a full printable recipe below!
Pâte à Choux dough:
- Make a classic pâte à choux dough on the stovetop, then beat in eggs until smooth and glossy.
- Pipe dough onto prepared baking sheets, brush with egg wash, and bake until puffed and golden.
- Let shells finish drying in the turned-off oven, then cool completely before filling.
Strawberry Cream Filling:
- Bloom gelatin, then melt until liquid.
- Whip cream with sugar and vanilla, slowly streaming in gelatin, until medium-stiff peaks form.
- Gently mix in crushed strawberries and set aside until ready to fill the shells.
- To fill the shells, you can cut the in half and pipe in the filling like a sandwich, inject your piping bag into the bottom of the shell, or cut them partly in half and then fold it over again, partly hiding the filling. See the gallery below for some pictures to help you get an idea of what method you’d like best!
Chocolate Ganache
- Heat cream until steaming and pour over chocolate.
- Let sit briefly, then whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle or dip filled cream puffs once ganache has slightly thickened.
Filling the Shells
To fill the shells, you have a few options.
- You can cut them in half like a sandwich and pile the filling in. This method is a little messier to eat (or transport, if you’re doing that) but they look so gorgeous and I like that you can see what’s in them. You’ve also got the highest filling-to-pastry ratio and that’s pretty fabulous, too.
- There is the traditional method of sticking a piping tip right up into the bottom and fill them up. This method produces the cleanest result and it’s kind of fun to be surprised when you bite into them!
- You can also cut them in half, but simply fill up the cavity inside and cover them back up, hiding the filling.
Variation Ideas
Pâte à Choux is famously customizable. This is a great base recipe to tailor to whatever flavors or theme you’re working with.
- A classic variation is vanilla pastry cream, or stabilized whipped cream.
- Chocolate mousse or chocolate whipped cream adds a richer feel.
- In the Christmas season, you could try a peppermint cream with chocolate ganache and crushed candy canes.
- In spring time, try a lemon or raspberry cream with a white chocolate ganache.
- These are perfect for summer due to their cool filling! For those long summer days, you could do a coconut cream with chocolate ganache and toasted coconut on top.
- The topping can be customized easily; try a dark chocolate, white chocolate, caramel drizzle, or even a dusting of powdered sugar.
Storage & Other Tips
- Simplify: There are three parts to this recipe, and you can actually make any of the three parts ahead of time to ease the process. Whipping it up all at once works too! Just be sure to account for enough time for the shells to cool completely.
- Get Out Your Piping Bag: a trick to getting nice, high, round puffs is to pipe upwards so they are about an inch and a half tall. If your batter is flat and spreads out, it will actually still taste good, but they will be more like puffy little pancakes.
- Egg Wash: I definitely recommend an egg wash before baking because it makes the tops look pretty, but it’s optional.
- Freeze-Dried Berries Only: if you add fresh berries to whipped cream, it would take a large amount to actually flavor it and the excess moisture would break the cream. My secret? Freeze-dried berries. Freeze-dried berries are not chewy dehydrated berries. They are the same as fresh berries, only all of the liquid is vaporized out of there. I freeze dried my own, but they are widely accessible at grocery stores or on Amazon. You can buy them at Kroger/Fred Meyer in the health food section, and Target routinely carries them near the dried fruits, as does Walmart. As you beat them into the cream, they start to rehydrate, both naturally flavoring and coloring the cream.
- Packaging Them Up: One thing I love about little pastries like this is that they are so gorgeous and special that just one or two makes a lovely little gift. My favorite way to package stuff like this is in those little disposable paper baking pans. They have a waxed lining so things don’t stick or soak through and they are deep enough to hold a few little goodies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pâte à Choux needs enough heat and the right dough consistency. Make sure the flour is fully incorporated on the stovetop and the dough is smooth before adding the eggs. Also avoid opening the oven during baking so they don’t collapse.
I definitely recommend making the components for this all ahead of time to make the process a bit easier, but they should be served shortly after coming together. The unfilled shells can be made the day before and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months. The strawberry cream can be made a few hours ahead and refrigerated. Keep it covered and whip briefly again before filling if it settles. If you want to work ahead of time, dip them in ganache an hour or two before serving. Filled cream puffs are best eaten the same day; once it all comes together, plan on serving within a few hours.
No, I don’t recommend frozen strawberries, as it will compromise the consistency of the filling.
This stuff tastes like HEAVEN and you’re going to want to put it on everything! It’s great on top of cupcakes, filling for a cake, or piled on french toast. I could go on and on!
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Pastry
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into chunks
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, large room temperature
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
Strawberry Cream Filling
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin like Knox, found near Jell-o in the baking aisle
- 4 teaspoons cold water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup powdered sugar more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries
Chocolate Ganache
- 4 ounces by weight semi-sweet chocolate
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Pastry
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Measure flour and set aside.
- Bring butter, sugar, salt, and ¾ cup water to a boil in a 3-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Immediately remove from heat, and quickly stir in flour mixture all at once. Return to heat and stir with a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes, or until dough is smooth and forms a ball. (Don't short-change this step or your dough may be too soft to pipe). Transfer dough to the bowl of an electric mixer, and let cool 5 minutes.
- Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time, beating until mixture is smooth and glossy. Spoon dough into a pastry bag fitted with a ⅝-inch plain tip. Pipe dough onto prepared pans into 1 ½-inch rounds (1 ½ inches high). Smooth out peaks and round tops with a moistened finger.
- Whisk together remaining 1 egg and 1 teaspoon water. Brush tops of dough with egg mixture.
- Bake at 425℉ for 5 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 375℉, and bake 30 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Turn oven off; let shells stand in closed oven 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheets to wire racks, and cool completely.
Strawberry Cream Filling
- Place cold water in small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it. Let sit for 5 minutes. While it’s sitting, place heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or in a mixing bowl if using an electric beater. Once gelatin is set, place bowl in microwave and heat until gelatin turns to liquid, about 5-10 seconds.
- Turn mixer on to start beating cream. Let it run for about 1 minute and then with the mixer on high, very slowly pour the melted gelatin in, in a small steady stream.
- Continue beating cream until you reach medium-stiff peaks. Place berries in a plastic bag and crush with hands into small pieces. Add to whipped cream and beat for an additional 30 seconds until well mixed.
- When pastry shells are completely full, fill using one of the methods outlined in blog post.
Chocolate Ganache
- Heat ½ cup heavy cream in microwave until steaming. Pour over chocolate in a heat safe bowl and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Whisk to combine until completely smooth. Sauce will be thinner when hot and thicken as it cools. Drizzle over tops of filled cream puffs, or dunk in bowl.
Questions & Reviews
Thank you! I was always afraid to make pate a choux because I thought it would be time consuming and turn out badly, but these were perfect the first time. Mine only took about 20 minutes at 375, after which I turned off the oven and let them sit inside for 10 minutes, so giving the note about the color really helped me to not bur them.
My grandma used to make these but I’ve never been brave enough to attempt it. Now I’m definitely going to! Thanks for the steps and recipe!
I felt like a master chef watching these puff up in the oven! I can’t wait to make them for a party. I’ll be so popular 😉
Sara – I’ve not worked with freeze dried strawberries before – will they soak up sufficient liquid to re-hydrate in the filling to become soft or will they eventually dry out the filling? Do you think fresh strawberries, diced, would be too wet and break up the filling? Just thoughts….
These look fabulous by the way!
I do not recommend fresh strawberries. Freeze dried are perfect, and yes, they become soft and perfect 🙂
This is probably a silly question, but is there a difference between the heavy cream used in the filling, and the heavy whipping cream used in the ganache?
Nope, same thing 🙂
I know what I’ll be making this weekend. What kind of tip did you use to fill the cream puffs?
Good thing the DietBet ends before Valentine’s Day! These are beautiful and look delicious.
I’ve never made cream puffs before, but my husband his mission in France and I’m sure he would love these!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Devinely delicious!
Thanks so much for sharing Sara! Glad you loved my book. I love your idea of using dried strawberries in the filling. Your cream puffs and photos are beautiful.