Homemade Caramel Cream Puffs – The perfect pastry dessert

Have you been on a baking and dessert journey over the last year? Have you been watching all of those cooking shows and attempting the great recipes from there? We have something special for you in the form of these Homemade Caramel Cream Puffs. It’s a pastry recipe that takes a bit of time but the effort is well worth it. It’s time to impress your family this weekend.

Choux pastry is a shortish pastry which is great for creating light and crispy balls of flaky pastry. Other than making the perfect caramel, the choux pastry takes the most skill to perfect, especially when it comes to getting the dough and sizes correct. The pastry cream is light and delicious as a filler for these globes of pastry. Your caramel should be a beautiful deep brown colour and will hug the pastry when you pour it right over. You can serve this at a big event and stack it high or as a small delicious dessert after Sunday Lunch.

Get your chef’s hat on because it’s time to become a pastry chef with this sweet and flaky Homemade Caramel Cream Puffs recipe.

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Homemade Caramel Cream Puffs Recipe

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Recipe by Dominique White Course: DessertCuisine: GlobalDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

40

minutes

Cooking time

25

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

These delicious cream puffs are made from a basic choux pastry, filled with pastry cream and drizzled with caramel.

Ingredients – PASTRY CREAM

• 1 cup milk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence

• 3 large egg yolks

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 2 tablespoons butter

• INGREDIENTS – CHOUX PASTRY

• 3 eggs for pastry

• 1 egg for egg wash

• 200 ml water

• 2 cups flour

• 5 tbsp butter

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• pinch of salt

• INGREDIENTS – CARAMEL

• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

• ¼ cup water

• 2 tablespoons butter

Method – PASTRY CREAM

• Start by heating the milk and vanilla essence until hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat and allow it to sit for 15 minutes.
• In a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch.
• Add half a cup of the warm milk to the egg mix while still mixing to temper the egg so it does not cook. This is important.
• Slowly whisk in the rest of the milk.
• Place back on the stove on medium heat and continuously whisk until it thickens into a thick, still custard.
• Push this mixture through a sieve to ensure there are absolutely no lumps.
• Whisk in the butter.
• Cover with a sheet of cling wrap and push down so it touches the top of the custard. This prevents a skin from forming.
• Chill before use. You can place it in a piping bag to chill as this will also stop the skin from forming.
• METHOD – CHOUX PASTRY
• Place the water and butter in a pot and allow it to melt. Whisk.
• Add the pinch of salt and sugar and whisk until incorporated.
• Take off the heat.
• With a spatula mix in the flour until a smooth, soft dough forms.
• One by one mix in the eggs. this takes a while and at first it seems like they won’t mix in but stick with it.
• Preheat the oven to 200°c.
• Place in a piping bag and pipe onto a greased piping tray. You’re looking for tablespoon sized puffs. Pipe in a circular motion as if you were icing a cupcake.
• Brush with egg wash.
• Bake for 25 minutes or until they have puffed up and changed to a light golden colour. It is important that you do not open the oven mid-bake as the puffs will deflate.
• Remove from oven and place aside to cool.
• METHOD – CARAMEL
• Place the sugar and water in a pot and allow it to heat up as the brown sugar melts. Try not to stir.
• Once it is very hot begin to whisk and put in the butter.
• Allow it to bubble up and heat up until it reduces to a thin but gooey caramel. Careful, this is hot.
• METHOD – ASSEMBLY
• Poke a hole in the bottom of each puff and pipe in a good amount of pastry cream.
• Dip the tops in caramel and allow it to set.

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It’s time to get your pastry chef hat on and create more delicious desserts. It’s never been easier to enjoy a plant-based diet. Just have a look at our recipe page, we have excellent suggestions for you to try.

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