National Cream Puff Day

History of National Cream Puff Day

Cream puffs are quite unusual pastries and are made very differently than most other recipes in their category.

They originated in the 1540’s when Catherine de Medici’s pastry chef created the baked puffed shells for Catherine’s husband, Henry II of France. Although both the pastry and its name profiterole initially came from France, profiteroles are now considered to be one of the main national dishes in Gibraltar.

The word profiterole (also spelled prophitrole, profitrolle, or profiterolle) has existed in the English language since 1604, borrowed from the French.

The original meaning in both English and French is unclear, but later it came to mean a kind of roll “baked under the ashes.” A 17th century French recipe for a Potage de profiteolles or profiterolles describes a soup of dried small breads, simmered in almond broth and garnished with coxcombs, truffles, and various other items.

The current cream puff does not date quite as far back and is only clearly referred to in the 19th century. But it wasn’t long until the dessert made a splash in the New World.

In fact, the “cream puff” has appeared on restaurant menus in the United States since 1851.

Bonus: Cream Puff Recipe

• 1 Cup of Water
• 8 Tablespoons or 1 stick of unsalted butter
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons of granulated sugar
• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 3 to 4 eggs, plus 1 egg for egg wash

Now, for the filling:

• 2 Cups of Heavy Cream
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• ¼ teaspoon of vanilla

Finally, the steps to making our cream puffs!

Preheat the oven to 425F. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt, and granulated sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat.

When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, for 30 to 60 seconds. Return the pan to the heat and stir for 30 seconds to evaporate some of the moisture.

Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, add 1 egg at a time, stopping after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth, glossy, and the eggs are completely incorporated.

The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when they are lifted out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining egg and mix until incorporated.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe the dough onto the baking sheet in 2-inch diameter rounds or balls. Whisk the remaining egg with 1 1/2 teaspoons of water. Brush the surface of the rounds with the egg wash to knock down the points.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375F and bake until puffed up and light golden brown–about 20 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often while baking. Let it cool on the baking sheet.

To fill the cream puffs, place a pastry tip on your finger and poke a hole in the bottom of each puff. Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until stiff. Pipe whipped cream into each cream puff and chill until ready to serve, no more than 4 hours.