So I decided to make cream puffs yesterday for my best friends husbands birthday...I know any excuse to bake right. He isn't a birthday cake kind of guy but his Mom use to make cream puffs that he adored and so I decided I would try to pay homage as a way to commemorate his birthday. I have made cream puffs once before, but it must have been an easier recipe or I must have cheated or something because I don't quite remember it being an all day affair like it was yesterday with these puffs.



Or maybe making cream puffs is similar to the way women describe child birth...once its over you forget the pain. However, I think they are liars and they probably have to sign something in the hospital that says you will tell women who don't have children how wonderful it is and that childbirth is easy just so we can continue to carry on the human race. Because I have seen that Lifetime reality show on childbirth and that looks pretty friggin painful to me. How is that for a conspiracy theory?



Anyway I will not forget how time consuming these cream puffs were, but they were gosh darn worth it. So I decided to make Chocolate Glazed Cream Puffs because everything is better with a little chocolate, right? The filling is made first because it needs to chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours. In my opinion, the filling was the scariest part just because for some reason I have a fear of cooking milk and I am always afraid of scorching the bottom of the mixture. However, this time no burnt charred mess...I am attributing that to my gas stove. Love love love!!! I digress so in a saucepan stir together flour, sugar and salt. Gradually stir in milk and cook over medium heat until mixture starts to boil, stirring constantly. Yes I have pretty awesome arm muscles from all the stirring. Once it starts to boil cook for another 2 minutes. Gradually stir half the mixture into your egg yolk mixture...this was also scary as I continued to picture scrambled eggs, but that didn't happen and I was extremely relieved. Add the egg yolk mixture to the pot and cook for another minute, yes stirring some more. Remove from the heat and add chocolate chips, vanilla and butter. Not all of my chocolate chips totally melted so my mixture did have little bits of chocolate which tasted great but I don't know if that was the intention of the recipe. Pour the mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so you don't get that nasty film on the top of your filling and put in the fridge.



Now for the actual puff. In a saucepan heat water, butter and salt to boiling. Once it boils add flour and beat until it forms a ball. Remove from heat and add in the 4 eggs, one at a time. Drop by spoon fulls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.



The recipe says it makes 12 cream puffs but I made 8 just because I wanted them a little more hefty. Once they are done baking cool them on a rack.



Once they are cool cut them horizontally and scoop out the middle.  Be careful with the cutting and scooping because I did split one puff down the middle but I just used the filling to kind of glue it together so it looked normal. Put the filling inside and then make the glaze.



 The glaze is the easiest part just put chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and put in the microwave for 1 minute. I put the glaze in a plastic bag and cut the tip off so I could squeeze the glaze over the puffs without making a giant mess.




These are very rich, chocolaty and heavenly. Definitely recommend them for a special occasion...because if I ate them everyday well that just wouldn't be good for my overall health.

In case you wanted to know some random cream puff facts let me help:

• The first cream puff mention on a menu in the United States occurred in 1851
• The cream puff originated in France or England...there is a debate as to which one can claim the cream puff as their very own
• The cream puff can be traced to the Middle Ages...so they are pretty old

And finally is anyone is looking for a great end of summer grilling recipe here is a recipe I tried recently from Food Network:

• 1 pound baby red-skinned potatoes
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• Kosher salt
• 2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally 1 inch thick
• 1 1/2 pounds beef tri-tip, cut lengthwise into 4 steaks
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Directions