Cream Puffs! Lavender, Mascarpone cheese, and Mocha flavors.

Growing up we made cream puffs to every special event I can think of. By we, I mean me. My mom would tell me what to put in the pot, call out what to do next and I made them. They worked out every time.

I remember making these with such ease with my mom. The choux pastry is the easy part, it's the cream filling that's not anywhere in my mom's recipe book! I flipped through every page, nothing. So I decided to make a few cream fillings and see what I like. I made so many puffs, an entire week of cream puffs. Some fillings were too thin and I wasn't able to fill the puff, others I over did on a few ingredients and some are divine tasting. So, I'll share the ones that I liked. I did invite family and friends in the tasting party, so I'll write what flavors we loved.

Okay, so for the choux pastry:

· 2 sticks butter ( 1 cup)

· 1 1/4 cup water

· 1 cup flour

· 1/4 tsp baking soda

· 6 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. Bring the water to a boil, add butter till butter melts. After the butter melts, add flour mixture, continually mix for one minute. Transfer mixture to a stand up mixer. Turn the mixer on medium high speed; add one egg at a time. Fill a piping bag without a tip or cut a hole in a zip lock bag and begin piping about silver dollar size puffs onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure not to pipe them too close together, about an inch and a half apart from each other. They need room to puff up in the oven. Bake in on 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown. You want them to be nice and crisp on the outside and hollow on the inside for the cream filling. Another thing, don't open the oven to check on them, they will not puff up enough. Transfer to a wire rack to completely cool before filling with cream. Cream filling Ideas:

· Chocolate Lavender Cream Filling

1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream

½ cup melted chocolate ( I just melt a chocolate bar or baking chocolate over a double boiler, you can use chocolate sauce too)

1/2 cup powder sugar

1-2 drops of lavender essential oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup melting chocolate for the swirls on top

Whip the heavy whipping cream ( don’t over whip, or it will turn into butter). Add ½ cup melted chocolate, powder sugar and lavender essential oil. Fill the cream into a piping bag. Cut cream puffs in half and fill with cream. The entire puff should be filled. To make the chocolate swirls on top, melt the ¼ cup chocolate with a table spoon of milk or heavy whipping cream. Let cool and either pipe out with a tiny circle tip, or spoon it over the top.

· Chocolate Mascarpone Cheese Cream Filling

1 cup heavy cream

4 ounces mascarpone cheese ( half a container)

½ cup melted chocolate (completely cooled)

1/2 cup powder sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup chocolate melted with a table spoon of milk for the chocolate swirls on top.

Whip the heavy cream in a mixer on high, as soon as stiff peaks form add the mascarpone cheese and chocolate, powder sugar and vanilla extract. Whip to combine. Fill cream filling into a piping bag with a large rosette tip. Cut the puffs in half and fill each puff with cream. Fill another piping bag with a tiny circle tip or a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut at the tip of the bag. Fill with melted chocolate and pipe chocolate stripes or swirls on top of the cream puff.

· Carmel Mocha Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 can of cooked condensed milk or a can of crème de leche (available in the latin food section of the grocery store) I like the cooked condensed milk. I just take the wrapping off the can, not opened, place in a pot of water and boil for two hours. Add water as it boils off. Allow to completely cool before opening. I usually have a couple cooked cans in the pantry.

2-3 Tbsp. instant espresso powder

½ tsp vanilla extract

This cream is not going to be as stiff as the other ones. So know you will have to fill these with a piping bag that has a long tip, or a cupcake injector ( I’ll link one I have below). Oh, but they are so good!

¼ cup chocolate melted with a table spoon of milk for the chocolate swirls on top.

Whip heavy cream in a mixer, as soon as it whips, add the condensed milk, espresso powder and vanilla extract. Beat till combined.

Fill the cream injector or piping bag and fill puffs. They should feel full, no empty space.

Drizzle or pipe the chocolate on top of each puff.

· I always refrigerate the cream puffs and pull them out of the fridge an hour before serving.

I like this pro one! I have the little plastic one, it's only $7. But this pro one is something I want as soon as my boys break the plastic one. Yes, they find it and use it in pretend battle play. # life with boys. lol