Blackberry Swirl Creme Puffs

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So when I think of creme puffs, I think high teas, fancy appetizers, and finger sandwiches. But I wonder, how did it get associated with those things? After all, creme puffs have a limited amount of ingredients and don’t require anything fancy. Really, anyone can make them, so why the fuss? Today I’m going to show you just how easy they are to make!

Blackberry Swirl Cream Puffs

Yield: 24

For the pastry:

1 cup water
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
pinch of salt

For the Cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons Blackberry Preserves

Instructions:

Step One. Put the water, butter, sugar, and salt in a pan over medium high heat. Stir until butter is melted and it comes to a boil.

Step Two. Reduce the heat to medium and add the flour mixture all a once. Stirring quickly, combine the flour with the liquids until all the liquids have been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. This will take about a minute or so.

Step Three. Remove the pan from the heat and place the dough into a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Step Four. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs in one at a time. Do not add more than one at a time or the mixture will not combine correctly. Make sure each egg is well incorporated before adding the next egg. When finished, the mixture should look glossy.

Step Five. Place batter into a pastry bag with a large round tip inserted first (or you can use a zip-top bag with a corner cut off). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step Six. Hold the pastry bag over the baking sheet and squeeze in the same spot until a 2 inch round circle appears. Release the pressure and pull straight up. If there’s a peak on the puff, you can wet your finger and smooth it down easily (you want a flat top). Repeat this process for the entire pan – making sure the puff are at least 2 inches apart.

Step Seven. Place the baking sheet in the oven and turn the heat up to 450 degrees (yes, we preheated to 425, but the heat needs to be increasing when the puffs first go in). Bake for about 10 minutes. After this initial cooking time, turn the heat down to 30 degrees. Do not open the door to the oven! Bake for 15 minutes or until the shells are crispy and set. Do not pull them out early or they will not puff up correctly.

Step Eight. While the shells are cooling, you can prepare your cream filling. To do this, put your cream in your stand mixer and let it mix until the cream just starts to thicken. At this point, add the sugar and vanilla and continue whipping it until soft peaks form.

Step Nine. Gently fold in the blackberry preserves until you have a swirl effect. Put the creme mixture into another piping bag. In order to get the puffs to be filled, you can do it two ways – either poke a small hole in the bottom and fill the puff, or you can cut the puffs in half and just spread it in between the two halves like a sandwich. Either way will work.