STRAWBERRY CREAM PUFFS RECIPE
Cream puffs are the perfect combination of a little bit of crisp and airy dough and a sweet creamy filling. They are delicious on their own but adding fresh strawberries into them - which are just so sweet and juicy right now - makes them even better and a great dessert for strawberry season!
They are made with choux pastry, pâte à choux in French or profiterole in Italian, a mixture of water, butter, flour and eggs, which gets piped onto a baking sheet and baked until they turn into small, puffy pastries. The high temperature in the oven turns the high water content in the dough into steam and creates their typical large air pockets inside. Once cooled, they are the perfect little pockets to be filled with decadent mascarpone cream and sweet fresh strawberries.
Make these scrumptious golden puff pastries easily by following my step-by-step instructions and tips below. Fill them with some homemade whipped cream or follow the instructions for adding the mascarpone cream and your favourite fresh berries and give them a sweet dusting of icing sugar on top. If you love my mascarpone cream, make sure to check out my EDIBLE FLOWER CREPES RECIPE.
This light and airy dessert is always a crowd pleaser and will be gone before you know it. Make these delicious strawberry cream puffs as a special treat for Father’s Day, your next party, any summer celebration or as a red and white dessert for this year’s Canada Day.
TIPS TO MAKE THE PERFECT
STRAWBERRY CREAM PUFFS
Use a kitchen scale if you can to weigh your ingredients rather than measuring them in cups. This will ensure accurate ingredients and will result in a great dessert.
Make sure to use room temperature eggs for this recipe.
Sift your flour before dumping it all at once into the boiling water/butter mixture.
Always incorporate your eggs one by one. Stop adding eggs once your dough is smooth and shiny and rather stiff than too runny and wet.
Try not to over mix your dough and use a hand mixer or a whisk to avoid getting too much air into it.
Don’t open the oven door for the first 15-20 minutes to avoid your pastries from collapsing.
Bake your puff pastries until they are crisp and golden.
Let the pastries cool completely before filling them.
You can make your puff pastries ahead of time (up to two days) and store them in an airtight container. Just re-crisp them for about 5 minutes at 300°F (150°C).
For the mascarpone cream filling have your cream and mascarpone really cold to prevent it from splitting and sift the icing sugar through a fine mesh strainer to prevent lumps of sugar in your cream.
Try to buy a high-quality mascarpone cheese. I find the cheaper ones tend to have a slightly grainy texture and don’t taste as good.
INGREDIENTS
Water - You can use filtered water or substitute with milk for this recipe.
Butter - use unsalted butter instead of salted butter to make the choux pastry.
Flour - I prefer using all-purpose flour or substitute with white spelt flour if you’d like.
Eggs - use small to medium eggs instead of large eggs for this recipe, because too much egg can make your batter runny and your pastries dense and flat.
Cream - make sure to use whipping cream with at least 35% fat content.
Mascarpone - use a high-quality mascarpone for best taste and creaminess.
Vanilla extract - I recommend using pure vanilla extract or paste instead of imitation vanilla to add to the mascarpone cream.
The full ingredient list with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.
MATERIALS
small saucepan
wooden spoon
mixing bowl
hand mixer
baking sheet
parchment paper
wire cooling rack
piping bag with large plain round tip
star tip (optional for the mascarpone cream)
bread knife
INSTRUCTIONS STEP BY STEP
Preheat your oven to 400 °F (200°C).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine water, butter and salt into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Sift the flour and dump it all at once into the boiling water/butter mixture.
Turn down the heat to medium-low and keep stirring continuously with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes until the dough starts to form a ball, is pulling away from the sides, and has created a film on the bottom of the saucepan.
Take off it the stove, transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and let it cool slightly. With a hand mixer or whisk stir in 2 tbsps of icing sugar and the three eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition, until fully incorporated. Stop adding eggs once your dough is smooth and shiny and rather stiff and don’t over mix the dough.
Fit your piping bag with a large plain round tip, fill it with the dough and pipe (or using a spoon) 12 round mounds onto your prepared baking sheet. Pipe as smooth as you can and gently flatten any tips of the mounds with a dampened finger.
Bake your pastry shells at 400 °F (200°C) for 20 minutes until golden.
Let them cool down completely on a wire cooling rack.
To prepare the mascarpone cream, drain your chilled mascarpone if there’s any liquid on top and stir together with the vanilla extract. Add the sifted icing sugar and cold whipping cream into a clean and cold mixing bowl. Whip with your hand mixer until medium-firm peaks form. Make sure not to over whip your mascarpone cream to prevent it from splitting.
Wash, dry and hull your strawberries and cut them into thin slices.
Gently cut your pastries in half with a serrated knife.
Assemble your cream puffs with strawberry slices and some mascarpone cream (using a piping bag or spoon), and close them up with the top halves.
Dust your strawberry cream puffs with icing sugar, serve right away and enjoy!
STRAWBERRY CREAM PUFF RECIPE
by Julia
These strawberry cream puffs are the perfect combination of a crisp and airy pastry, sweet creamy mascarpone filling, and fresh and juicy strawberries. Make this light and airy dessert as a special treat for Father’s Day, Canada Day or as a dessert for your next summer celebration.
PREP - 35 minutes BAKE - 20 minutes COOL & ASSEMBLE - 30 minutes
YIELD - 12 cream puffs
INGREDIENTS
for the pastries
125ml water
75g unsalted butter
175g flour
3 eggs
2tbsps icing sugar
1 pinch salt
for the filling
250ml heavy whipping cream (35%)
250g mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
50g icing sugar
300g fresh strawberries
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat your oven to 400 °F (200°C).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine water, butter and salt into a saucepan and bring to a boil.Sift the flour and dump it all at once into the boiling water/butter mixture.
Turn down the heat to medium-low and keep stirring continuously with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes until the dough starts to form a ball, is pulling away from the sides and has created a film on the bottom of the saucepan.
Take off it the stove, transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and let it cool slightly. With a hand mixer or whisk stir in 2 tbsps of icing sugar and the three eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition, until fully incorporated. Stop adding eggs once your dough is smooth and shiny and rather stiff and don’t over mix the dough.
Fit your piping bag with a large plain round tip, fill it with the dough and pipe (or using a spoon) 12 round mounds onto your prepared baking sheet. Pipe as smooth as you can and gently flatten any tips of the mounds with a dampened finger.
Bake your pastry shells at 400 °F (200°C) for 20 minutes until golden.
Let them cool down completely on a wire cooling rack.
To prepare the mascarpone cream, drain your chilled mascarpone if there’s any liquid on top and stir together with the vanilla extract. Add the sifted icing sugar and cold whipping cream into a clean and cold mixing bowl. Whip with your hand mixer until medium-firm peaks form. Make sure not to over whip your mascarpone cream to prevent it from splitting.
Wash, dry and hull your strawberries and cut them into thin slices.
Gently cut your pastries in half with a serrated knife.
Assemble your cream puffs with strawberry slices and some mascarpone cream (using a piping bag or spoon), and close them up with the top halves.
Dust your strawberry cream puffs with icing sugar, serve right away and enjoy!