i cook when i'm bored and i'm bored a lot: first attempt

i love introducing my kids to new foods. they love being introduced to new desserts, so when i brought home a box of profiteroles, they happily bounced on them, devouring the entire box. i love profiteroles and i love cream puffs even more, so i decided it was time to learn how to make them. years ago, i had looked up a recipe but was very intimidated by the instructions. i don't know why i was, but it seemed like a finicky recipe- any time you're working with boiling sugar, things can get finicky. today i did it! i made beautiful cream puffs on my first attempt! i was so excited, i jumped around my kitchen.

there it is, in all its puffed up glory. when i pulled these out of the oven i though to myself "why didn't i try this sooner? i could have been eating this!" i made a scrumptious lemon curd to go with it, but you can use any filling you like- pudding or whipped cream, with or without fresh fruit- and you can slather or drizzle melted chocolate over the top for a boston cream pie- esque dessert. there are endless possibilities with this dessert and all of them are good.

cream puff with lemon curd

for the cream puff-

1 cup of hot water

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, diced

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp of granulated sugar

1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

3- 4 eggs, at room temperature

preheat oven to 425⁰F. if using a convection oven, lower to 400⁰F. line a baking sheet with silicone mat.

in a large, nonstick saucepan, combine the water, butter, salt, and sugar together. bring to a boil over medium- high heat. simmer for about 1 minute, gently stirring the entire time. remove from heat, add all the flour at once, and stir quickly. the batter will resemble play-doh. lower the burner to medium heat, and return the pot to heat and stir for about 30 seconds, just to evaporated some moisture.

scrape the mixture into a stand mixer with paddle attachment. on medium speed, beat the mixture for about 2 minutes. lower the mixer to low speed and add one egg, beating the mixture after each egg and scraping down the sides. mix the dough until smooth and shiny. the dough will be thick and is ready when the dough slides easily off the paddle and doesn't stick to the paddle. if dough sticks, add last egg and beat again.

using two serving spoons, drop the dough onto the silicone mats, about 2 inches in width.

bake for 15 minutes at 425⁰F, then lower the oven temperature to 375⁰F. if you're using a convection oven, start at 400⁰F and lower the temperature to 350⁰F. bake for another 12- 15 minutes on the lower temperature, or until the puffs are light golden brown. turn the oven off and leave puffs in the oven for another 5 minutes. remove from heat and cool.

for the lemon curd-

3 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 cup of granulated sugar

2/3 cup lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons- if this is too tart for you, use zest of 1 lemon

4 tablespoons of cold butter, diced

pinch of salt

fill a large sauce pan 1/3 full with water and bring to a boil.

while the water is coming to a boil, combine the eggs, yolks, lemon juice, zest, and sugar in a medium- sized heat-proof bowl. once the water is boiling, place the bowl over the pot, making sure the bowl does not touch the top of the boiling water. whisk the mixture slowly, until the curd starts to thicken- the consistency will be similar to pudding. remove from heat and add the butter, one cube at a time, whisking after each cube.

pour into serving bowl and refrigerate for at least half and hour before using.

to assemble-

make a small cut into the side of a puff and gently pry apart, keeping one side attached. the inside is hollow, so you don't need to slice all the way through.