Coffee Cream Puffs

Coffee cream puffs without a piping bag can easily be made. In fact, you don’t need a piping bag for these medium bites of afternoon tea, and trust me these would go great with tea or coffee, these are the kind of baked treat one usually doesn’t make at home so feels fancier than biting into a cookie.

Coffee flavored baked goods are one of my favorite flavors, especially cream flavored goods because it’s just soooooo good!

There are lots more ideas I have for this pastry base in the coming months so add a comment below as to what flavors you’d like to see made with choux pastry here. Passionfruit? Pistachio? Lemon curd cream? Give me your wants and I will make them to share with you on how to create in your own kitchen.

My love of choux pastry has been well documented here and here and these rustic unfussy pastries are stellar for a reason!! Plus they have such a great base for additional flavors such as coffee, or chocolate or even freeze dried berries in either the pastry itself or the cream filling.

Also, coffee lends itself beautifully to the ganache topping that means this is doubled down on flavor, but not at all overpowering.

How to prepare Coffee Cream Puffs

• Prepare the tray: Greaseproof your baking tray with butter and add a little water, tapping to leave water beads.
• Sift it: Sift the flour and add the sugar.
• Heat: The water and butter are heated until melty and simmering.
• Beat: Add the flour and sugar to the saucepan and combine swiftly with a wooden spoon.
• Eggs a do: Add a quarter of the lightly beaten eggs and whip until combined.
• Repeat: Continue with those eggs until all combined and smoooooooooth!
• Spoon: Take half a tablespoonful and smooth out and place on your tray.
• Bake and turn: Bake for 14 minutes, increase that heat and turn that baking tray to bake them evenly.
• Cool it: Remove from the oven and set aside to cool fully.
• Coffee cream: Whip the cream and add in the instant coffee and sugar mixture, whipping until well combined.
• Cream filling: Halve the pastries and spoon full of the coffee whipped cream.
• Top topping: Heat the cream and instant coffee over a double boiler.
• Make the ganache: Add the white chocolate and stir until melted and thick.
• Dip: Dip the filled cream puffs into the ganache and swirl to cover fully
• Serve: Enjoy one (or two) of these with your favorite hot coffee.

Tips for the best Coffee Cream Puffs

Water on your baking tray: As per usual choux pastry baking, do not leave out the essential step of ensuring you have water droplets across your entire baking tray. This helps give the pastries their perfect firm exterior.

Even sized spoons: You want even sized tablespoons to smooth out the edges of the pastry as you lift it out of the bowl and ensure you can create consistent sized pastries.

Smooth out the tops: When you spoon the pastry onto your baking tray, smooth out the tops as this replicates the effect you could make with a piping bag.

Avoiding collapsed cream puffs: Choux pastry needs to be well and truly golden like medium toast as this helps the finished pastries not to collapse once they have been removed from the oven. The larger your cream puffs the longer they’ll need to become golden.

Baking time for different sizes: Small cream puffs would need 22-25 minutes baking versus larger would need 27-30 minutes as per the notes in the instuctions to bake.

Coffee cream: The instant coffee I had on hand did not dissolve without heat which means a small syrup had to be formed before adding to the whipped cream. If you have instant coffee that can dissolve at room temperature, you can leave out the step of dissolving in hot water, though you will want to add a little sugar to that whipped cream.

Best served: The filled pastries are best served the same day they are made. However, you can make these ahead and keep covered for 1 day prior to filling and covering in the chocolate ganache.

More coffee desserts you’ll enjoy

Coffee Panna Cotta with Kahlua Jelly

Coffee Blueberry Pie

Coffee Sandwich Cookies with Chocolate Filling

Coffee Cream Puffs
Adapted from Delia online
Makes 10 medium cream puffs

Ingredients:
Choux Pastry
70 grams / 1/2 cup bread flour
1 tablespoon superfine/caster sugar
130 milliliters cold water
50 grams / 1.75 ounces butter, cubed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Ganache Topping
25 milliliters / double cream
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
100 grams / ounces white chocolate
Cream Filling
1/8 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/4 teaspoon superfine/caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon boiling water
200 milliliters whipped cream

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/390F and lightly grease a baking tray, pouring water over the top and taping to remove excess (you want water beads on the tray to create a steamy atmosphere during baking).

Sift the flour into a small bowl and add the sugar. Set aside.

Place the water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture has begun simmering.

Remove from the heat and pour the sifted flour and sugar into the mixture, stirring swiftly with a wooden spoon to combine until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the saucepan.

Add in 1/4 of the beaten eggs and beat the dough until smooth, continue adding the eggs in the same manner until all have been combined.

Take half a tablespoonful amount of the dough and shape into a ball with an opposing tablespoon and spoon onto the prepared baking tray.

Smooth out the tops and continue with the remaining dough ensuring 1 inch between the dough.

Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes.

Increase the heat to 220ºC/430F, turn the tray around and bake for a further 16-18 minutes or until the pastries are golden.

Remove from the heat and place on a cooling rack, allowing to cool fully.

Place the instant coffee, sugar and boiling water in a small bowl and stir together.

Place the whipped cream into a bowl and pour the instant coffee mix in and fold together until smooth.

Spoon into a piping bag and close the bag by twisting firmly and holding in the palm of your hand.

Find a hole in the side of your pastry or if you prefer press into the base of your pastry and fill with whipped cream until you can feel the edges fill throughout the center.

Or if you prefer, slice a choux pastry open slightly near the base and carefully spoon a tablespoon of whipped cream into the center until all have cream therein.

Continue with the remaining pastries until all have cream in the center.

To make the white chocolate ganache, heat the cream and the instant coffee into a small bowl over a double boiler until hot and simmering.

Remove from the heat and add in the white chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted, set aside to cool to warm.

Dip the top half of one pastry into the ganache and swirl to coat evenly.

Continue with the remaining pastries until all have the white chocolate ganache coated on top.

Serve with a side of coffee.

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