Cream Puffs in the Studio

In a few days, I’ll head to St. John’s to have my newest painting scanned at Newfoundland Canvas and to check out the proofs of The New Dawn NL. I can’t wait!

It makes me so happy to think that people enjoy my art and want to have it in their homes. When prints are purchased, one of the best feelings comes when people send pictures of framed pieces in their living spaces – part of their lives every day. It is awesome.

While I wait to head to town, I wanted to keep my hands busy (isn’t there a saying about idle hands?) so I gathered my courage and tried making something I’ve wanted to make for years. Cream puffs!!

Like any good researcher, I looked through Pinterest for a user-friendly recipe that wasn’t too intimidating — and had good reviews. Natasha’s Kitchen met all of my criteria and even provided a video! I was sold. I saved it to my recipe board, ordered any missing grocery items I needed and told myself I could do this. If not, there’s always wine to pair with a failed recipe, right?

Making a recipe for the first time will test your skills! I re-read the instructions (and then re-read them again and again), then watched the video repeatedly until I felt like I was properly prepared.

Check out the handy video below:

I’ve never watched someone prepare cream puffs, so this was a bit of an adventure. *And,* I’m still getting used to a new-to-me stove, which brought an unexpected challenge about 7 minutes into baking my precious puffs. The smell of something potentially burning…

The instructions said not to open the oven door, and this oven doesn’t have a window, so I turned down the heat by 25 degrees and promptly opened all the windows and a door to (hopefully) prevent the smoke alarm from going off!

I learned that my oven prefers glass over metal – the cream puffs that were baking in the metal tray were a little darker than those that were comfortably baking in the glass pan. (I don’t have a baking sheet in our summer home here yet)

One of the most exciting moments happened when I sliced into the first cream puff and found that it had a hollow centre! (phew!)

It was fun preparing the filling ~ I followed Natasha’s recipe and filled about a third of the cream puffs with the whipped cream mixture, then a few more with a combination of whipping cream and a bit of jam.

The last third of the cream puffs were filled with a combination of whipped Fussell’s Thick Cream and whipped cream. I think these are my absolute favourite ~ they’re a little less sweet and the creaminess reminds me of bakeries we visited while we were in Europe.

I will definitely make this recipe again and again. It’s so tasty, and lovely to give to friends (which I’ve already done because I can only eat so many cream puffs… lol).

Cooper & Chloe’s review: lip-smacking good!