Great Grandma’s Cream Puffs

For the puffs: Add butter and salt to the cup of boiling water in a medium sized saucepan and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Lower heat and add flour all at once and stir vigorously until mixture leaves side of pan and forms a ball around the spoon. Remove from heat and add 1 egg at a time beating thoroughly after each addition.

Drop the dough, one tablespoon at a time, onto a parchment paper or Silpat lined baking sheet.

Bake at 450°F for 20 minutes and then turn oven down to 350°F and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Do not open oven until the end of the cooking time!! At the end of the cooking time, remove the puffs from the oven and set aside to cool.

For the filling: Combine dry ingredients (sugar, flour and salt) in the top of a double boiler; stir in milk gradually. Put water in the bottom of your double boiler and bring it to a boil. Cook the sugar mixture over the pot of boiling water until thickened; stirring constantly. Then cover and cook 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally (I turned it down slightly).

Put your eggs into a large heatproof bowl. Stir a little of the hot sugar mixture into the slightly beaten eggs. Slowly stir in the remaining hot mixture. Then put the mixture back into the top of your double boiler. Cook over hot water (not boiling) for 2 minutes stirring constantly, but gently – you don’t want scrambled eggs! Remove from heat and add butter to hot cooked filling. Chill slightly and then add vanilla and mix to combine. Chill in the refrigerator before filling the puffs.

Fill the cream puffs just before serving.

To fill the cream puffs: Fit a small tip onto a pastry bag. Fill the pastry bag with the cream filling. Cut a small “X” into the side of each puff. To fill the puff, insert the pastry tip into the hole formed by the “X” and fill it until the cream starts to come out of the hole. OR make your life easier and just cut the puffs in half and spread cream in the middle of the halves.

Sift powdered sugar over top of the filled cream puffs. Serve!