Time to stuff your puff! There are many types of crème puffs in the world and there are also many ways to stuff your puff! From smores, to coconut crème, from custard to Nutella and even pumpkin crème for those fall holidays; but let us face the facts since most puffs usually use the same type of Pate a choux it is the CRÈME that makes the puff so delicious!  I am going to introduce you to my family’s coveted crème puff!

Growing up in an Italian family, it was my Aunt Renee’s crème puffs that were the coveted dessert. As If we didn’t have enough to eat at the holidays! Have you ever been to an Italian Christmas Eve dinner? Dessert was usually course #5 after the black coffee and Andes candies, and before the midnight pizza, YES, I said pizza! Of course, there was always a plethora of Italian cookies, cannoli’s, sfogliatelle, but every holiday it was Aunt Renee’s crème puffs which were the most desired, with Uncle Angelo’s Fig cookies coming in a very close 2^nd (that recipe, I’ll share as part of my holiday cookie spectacular)!

Now why were these crème puffs so delicious? Well they were Italian crème puffs made with ricotta cheese and chocolate chips with lots of powdered sugar on them! Now one might argue that ricotta cheese is not crème, well I ask, what is in your cannoli?  Maybe the goodness was because these were homemade and only made appearances at the holidays!

Now every puff starts with a shell, you maybe able to get these shells in your local grocery’ bakery department as they are a little tricky to make, but if you’re up to the challenge, here is the shell recipe as well!

Recipe: Renee Gambino

Pate a Choux – Shell recipe – to hold the creamy deliciousness

Preheat oven to 450

• 1 cup of Flour – (buy Pre-Sifted)
• ¼ tsp of salt
• ½ cup of butter
• 1 cup of boiling water
• 4 eggs unbeaten

Measure Flour and add salt and sift again into a bowl

Melt butter in the boiling water & add dry ingredients at one time

Stir over low heat until mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of the pot (this should take less than 1 minute)

Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Put mixture into a mixing bowl and let cool for another few minutes and then add eggs one at a time! Beat thoroughly after adding each egg. The mixture will start to get sticky.

Using ungreased parchment paper on a baking pan, drop the mixture onto the pan by using a tablespoon or teaspoon 2 inches apart – depending on how large or small you want the puffs to be.

Put the tray in the oven for 10 minutes then rotate it for an additional 10 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remember to rotate the pan after ten minutes.

Remove puffs and using a skewer put a small hole in the puff. When cool cut across the center and fill with the AMAZING Crème puff filling!

Filling:

• 1 lb of Ricotta
• ¼ cup of sugar + extra for taste (if needed)
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 tsp of white Crème de Cacao
• Mini chocolate chips
• Powdered sugar

Mix the first 4 ingredients until creamy, add chocolate bits and fill puff. Place puffs on a tray and sprinkle with powdered sugar and decorate them however you would like!

These may be too delicious to share.

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Featured image source: Pixabay