Today is the first of my posts for the week to get you ready for Easter. I thought it would be fun to start with dessert. You can even make these ahead of time and freeze them if you want to make them early you. I adapted this recipe from one I found on Soup Belly. It brings in that citrus flavor I have been loving lately. Who doesn’t love a good cream puff? And this one is filled with a lusciously light lemon cream. It would be a perfect addition to your Easter celebration (or even a wedding or bridal shower). Light, lemony, and delicious! You could also easily substitute orange or lime zest to get and orange or lime cream puff. I think the orange filling would be excellent then drizzled with a little chocolate.
Here is a little peak into the remaining post this week for Easter – a potato dish just perfect to go with your Easter ham, a quick and easy wheat roll, an easy asparagus dish, and a citrus poppy seed cake that would work for breakfast, brunch or as a dessert. After that, I’ll even have a recipe to use up you leftover ham and hard boiled eggs.
Also, if you like variety and need a few desserts for you Easter celebration or if cream puffs aren’t your thing here are some other ideas:
Chocolate Mousse Filled Cream Puffs
Perfect Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream (or just make it as a cake)
Pineapple Zucchini Cake (use carrots in place of the zucchini)
Basic White Cupcakes with Coconut Butter Cream
Lemon Cream Puffs
Ingredients for pâte à choux:
-
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
-
1 cup water
-
1/8 tsp. salt
-
1 cup all purpose flour
-
4 eggs
Ingredients for filling:
-
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
-
12 oz. of cream cheese, softened
-
1 1/8 cup powdered sugar
-
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
Additional powdered sugar for dusting
1) In saucepan, combine butter, water and salt and bring to a boil. Add flour, stirring rigorously until the mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.
2) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add mixture to a mixer, and beat eggs in one at a time until smooth. If you don’t have a mixer, mix with a wooden spoon. On a cookie sheet, drop batter by teaspoons about 4 inches apart. (I used my cookie scoop to drop the batter. I got 29 puffs) Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. DO NOT open the oven to check until 25 minutes of bake time is over; the puffs will collapse if oven is opened too early. Cool on wire rack.
3) To make the filling: beat heavy cream with a mixer until whipped, and set aside in a bowl in the refrigerator. Then start blending the cream cheese with powdered sugar, adding a little sugar at a time until combined. Add 1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest. Fold in 1/3 of whipped cream by hand until well blended with cream cheese. This will help lighten the cream cheese making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream. Then fold in remaining whipped cream.
4) Carefully cut the tops off the puffs and add a spoonful of cream cheese filling to each. Dust with powdered sugar, serve and enjoy!
**If you are serving at a later time, keep the puffs and the filling separate in the refrigerator until you’re ready to combine them. That way they won’t get soggy. If serving in the distant future, the puffs can filled with filling then frozen in zip-lock bags (for up to 2 months), then defrosted at room temperature.
Used to make these with pineapple instead of lemon and they were delicious! But I can’t seem to find the puffs anymore :/
I tried the recipe and they didn’t turn out very well. I had a hard time whipping the cream but the filling ended up being okay. The pate a choux part sort of burned. Dropping the batter by the teaspoons and baking for 25 minutes didn’t go so well. The little ones burned pretty badly. I did some by the tablespoon and they were less burnt, but still not so great. I really wish this recipe worked for me!
i just made these and they were wonderful! so light and the lemon was just perfect. i can’t believe how easy they were to make! awesome. thanks so much for the recipe!
these were GOOD. I made them for a bbq last night, and was told they were better than Beard Papas!
I’d like to try that while having coffee. I gotta try making this myself soon. It looks yummy. Thanks for the recipe.
The cream puffs look divine…
I love cream puffs but somehow it never occurred to me to have lemon cream puffs!!!
My mouth is watering! It’s been a long time since I had a cream puff. The lemon addition sounds incredible!
These are so good! I thought they looked very yummy and then when I saw how easy the recipe was I decided to try them! they are light and fluffly and being a nutrition major at school I can tell they arent packed full of nasty buttery calories. All of my friends love them because it is not too sweet and has the perfect consistency. The only problem I had was that I cooked the bottom of them a little too much but it might have either been the cookie sheet I was using or the fact I put them on a lower rack in my oven. either way it was fantastic. Thanks!
Beautiful picture! I saw it over on DessertStalking.com. The cream puffs sound lovely!
these lemon cream puffs are gorgeous! i seriously feel like reaching through the screen and grabbing one.
Wow those look great! I will be making these for Sunday! Thanks!
I LOVE all things lemon! Thanks. I’m for sure trying these out.
Great photo! They look awesome!
yummy those would be a hit at my house…
Those are yummy! I’d love for you to join us on the Spring Hop Party!
http://hoosierhomemade.com/cupcake-tuesday-easter-cupcakes/
I have a giveaway too!
Thanks for sharing!
-Liz
Laura, those cream puffs look amazing ~ wish I could have one right now!