With Valentine’s day right around the corner, I wanted to share one of my family’s favorite desserts. I call them Easy Bavarian Cream Puffs! They are divine and perfect for the sweetie in your life. I will be sharing two recipes with you. One is a typical cream puff recipe and let me tell you, it will not disappoint. Cream puffs always used to intimidate me, that is until I got brave enough to try them. They are surprisingly easy to make. You will be shocked.
Just a warning.
They are always a crowd pleaser, so be prepared to see jaws drop, eyes pop, and lots of praise. There will also be jealous onlookers wishing they would have thought to bring a cool dessert like that, but we wont worry about those people. Let’s just focus on the positive here.
The other recipe is my easy knockoff version of Bavarian cream. Real Bavarian cream takes longer, and is a bit more temperamental than I like, but if you have the time, by all means go ahead and make the real stuff!
Both recipes are wonderful for using up those farm fresh eggs. Some weeks we can go through our eggs so quick, but other weeks I feel I have more than I know what to do with. That’s when a recipe like this can come in very handy. This recipe uses 7 eggs, so for those of you with chickens keep this recipe on hand. 🙂 Hope you enjoy my easy Bavarian cream puff recipe!
Easy Bavarian Cream Puff Recipe
Easy Bavarian Cream:
Ingredients:
1 cup Sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. Fine Sea Salt
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 tbs butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Method:
In a medium sauce pan, mix your sugar, flour and salt with a whisk.
Gradually add the milk and mix well. In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks and add to the pan. Mix well.
Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat stirring constantly until mixture becomes thick and has the consistency of pudding.
Take off heat and add butter and vanilla to the pan, stirring until well combined and butter is melted.
Cool completely. I put mine in the fridge to help speed up the cooling process. You have just created a vanilla custard. This is heavenly on its own, but to give it a Bavarian cream texture it needs to be a little lighter. We do this by taking a 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, whipping it until soft peaks form and gently folding the whipped cream into the custard mixture.
Now you have what I consider an easy version of Bavarian cream. Place into a piping bag to be used in the cream puff recipe.
Cream Puff Recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter
1 Cup of water
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a sauce pan bring butter, water and salt to a boil. Add 1 cup of flour to the boiling liquid all at once and stir until a ball forms.
Take pan off heat and let mixture cool for 5 minutes. After the flour mixture has cooled, start beating in the eggs, one at a time. Mixing well after each egg.
Mixture should be smooth and glossy after you beat in your 4th egg.
Place dough by spoonfuls on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees.
Remove cream puffs from the oven and let cool.
Cut cream puff half way through the center with a knife and pipe in your easy Bavarian cream. Sprinkle tops with powdered sugar and enjoy!
Below I have included the printable versions of these recipes. Hope you enjoy them!
Easy Bavarian Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 cups milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tbs butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, mix your sugar, flour and salt with a whisk. Gradually add the milk and mix well.
- In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks and add to the pan. Mix well. Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat stirring constantly until mixture becomes thick and has the consistency of pudding.
- Take off heat and add butter and vanilla to the pan, stirring until well combined and butter is melted. Cool completely. I put mine in the fridge to help speed up the cooling process.
- You have just created a vanilla custard. This is heavenly on it's own, but to give it a Bavarian cream texture it needs to be a little lighter in texture. We do this by taking a 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, whipping it until soft peaks form and gently folding the whipped cream into the custard mixture.
- Place into a piping bag to be used in the cream puffs.
Nutrition
Cream Puff Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup of butter
- 1 cup of water
- 1/4 tsp . fine sea salt
- 1 cup of flour
- 4 eggs
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a sauce pan bring butter, water and salt to a boil.
- Add 1 cup of flour to the boiling liquid all at once and stir until a ball forms.
- Take pan off heat and let mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- After the flour mixture has cooled for 5 minutes, start beating in the eggs, one at a time. Mixing well after each egg. Mixture should be smooth and glossy after you beat in your 4th egg.
- Place dough by spoonfuls on a parchment covered baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Remove cream puffs from the oven and let cool.
- Cut cream puff half way through the center with a knife and pipe in your easy Bavarian cream. Sprinkle tops with powdered sugar and enjoy!
Nutrition
To see more of my from scratch recipes go here. Also head on over and follow me on Pinterest where you will see I have a great love for all things food!
Can you use this as a cake filling?
I don’t see why not! It would be delicious!
This bread is known as what is called gougère in French, but this isn’t the best recipe. The most important key to making them right is cooking them at two different temps. It you cook them at 400F for 40 minutes they will be burnt and will not puff properly. Cook them at 400F for 5 minutes and then lower the temp to 375F for the rest of the time. Keep checking them in the last ten minutes. When done they should be lightly browned and still slightly moist inside.
The dough is very wet and a little harder to work with than standard bread dough. If it seems too wet it isn’t. You’re doing it right. That’s just how it is. Use a table spoon to scoop out 15 balls onto the cookie sheet. You will have a little left over. Go over the 15 and divide it between them with a 1/2 tablespoon scooper. Doing double scoops makes them even puffier.
You can also make cheese gougères a similar way, but adding a hard grated cheese to the dough.
would like to know once you fill the puffs how long can the set and do you put in refridg? Do they get soggy?
Yeah, you will want to use these within a day for the best results.
I just tried making the vanilla custard for the very first time! Sans vanilla, because I simply HATE that flavour component in any of my baked goods! LOL! I added in RUM & a bit of freshly squeezed, Meyer Lemon juice. A definite BIG FLAVOUR BOOST! Next up are my Choux Pastries. All for a friend’s Birthday celebration!
Horray, glad it worked!!
Hi I think this custard will be perfect for a boston crème pie will it work? also can I make the custard on Monday night add the whip crème on Tuesday night and put it on cake on Wednesday afternoon? Thank you so much
Chrissie
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Ok, first time trying to make ‘puffs’. I have the filling made with a different recipe. I’m glad I made it first. Half way through making the ‘puff’ dough, turns out it’s a VERY thick dough. My hand mixer gave out when adding the 4th egg.
Should have known better.
Next time I’ll use my stand mixer with the dough hook. Although this isn’t quite the dough it’s for, I hope it’ll work.
Now to go buy a new hand mixer…..
I just made 100 for football team meal! OMG, they are delicious and I can’t wait to watch them mow on them! I used to make these when I was a kid and when my mom passed, I lost the recipe. Thank you so much!
LOVE this recipe! Can’t wait to try it! Could I make the Bavarian cream custard the night before letting it cool all night and then add the whipped cream the next morning before filling puffs?
Yes totally!
My son and I made this last night for a German project. It was simple and a hit! Loved it.
Thanks!
OMG! I made a very huge mistake! i put 1/2 cup of butter instead of 2 tbsp in my Bavarian cream 🙁
I’m letting it to cool completely right now, i just don’t know what will happen after it cools down. I’m so stupid and laughing at myself at the same time. Is there anything I can do with this? Thanks
I’m sure a little extra butter will still taste good? Right? I’m not sure but give it a try!
omg thank you so much for this wonderful recipe,i made them today they are in fridge now for the final set.i made them just like the recipe, well all most,i used the leftover egg whites in the cream,i didn’t have a need for them and couldn’t waste lol. I made them larger so i got 12 good size puffs,the hardest thing for me was piping with pastry bag so i ended up spooning filling in came out fine and i put chocolate on top!!!!! love love the recipe thank you, i look forward to trying some of your other recipes. thanks again, charlene
To make them less messy to eat and really be poppers, I use a pastry bag and time and fill from the bottom.