Grammy's Giant Cream Puffs
Massive choux pastry filled with vanilla custard cream — a Grammy-approved showstopper.
Prep: 30 min · Cook: 40 min · Total: 1 hr 10 min · Serves: 12 · Difficulty: Hard · Rating: 5/5 (800 reviews)
INSPIRED BY
Grammy's Goodies — Wheat Ridge, CO
Inspired by Grammy's Goodies in Wheat Ridge, CO — a bakery where the cream puffs are the size of softballs and the custard is made fresh every morning.
Story
I have cried over choux pastry before, so when my daughter asked for "the big cream balls" for her 4th birthday after seeing them at a bakery, I approached these giant cream puffs with the respect of someone who has been burned. I'd seen the softball-sized ones at Grammy's Goodies in Wheat Ridge and figured if a small Colorado bakery could make them every morning, I could manage them once for a birthday. The choux is less scary than its reputation, but there's one rule I broke my first time: let the dough cool before you add the eggs. I added them straight into the hot flour paste once and scrambled them right there in the pot, which is exactly as gross as it sounds. Five minutes of cooling, then beat the eggs in one at a time until the dough is glossy and holds a peak. That's the texture you're after. Do not open the oven while they bake. I peeked at minute fifteen on my first batch and three of them deflated like sad little balloons. They need the full 35 to 40 minutes undisturbed to set their structure and dry out inside, and they should sound hollow when you tap them. The filling is a shortcut and I'm not sorry: whipped heavy cream folded into vanilla instant pudding made with milk. It's stable, it pipes easily, and it tastes like the inside of every cream puff I loved as a kid. A real pastry cream is better but on a birthday morning with a 4-year-old underfoot, the pudding hack wins. Honest assessment: these are a project and they're messy, and the powdered sugar got absolutely everywhere, including, somehow, in my hair. They're also genuinely impressive, and the birthday girl's face when I brought out something the size of her fist was worth every bit of it. They don't keep. The choux goes soft within a few hours of filling, so fill them right before serving. My 7-year-old ate two and got a sugar high that lasted until bedtime, and I counted that as a successful party even though I had to vacuum powdered sugar off the kitchen floor twice.
By Casey
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring water, butter, and sugar to a rolling boil in a saucepan.
- Remove from heat and stir in flour all at once until a smooth ball forms.
- Let cool 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time until dough is smooth, glossy, and holds a peak.
- Drop large spoonfuls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 35-40 minutes until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped.
- Make custard cream: whip heavy cream to stiff peaks. Mix pudding mix with milk and vanilla. Fold whipped cream into pudding mixture.
- Slice puffs in half. Fill with generous custard cream. Dust with powdered sugar.
Chef Tips
- Don't open the oven during the first 25 minutes — the choux needs steam to puff up. The puffs should be deeply golden and feel light when you pick them up. Underbaked puffs will collapse.
Cook's Notes
- **Choux tip:** The dough is done when it pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan and a wooden spoon leaves a dry impression. Too wet and the puffs won't hold their shape.
- **Egg temperature:** Add eggs one at a time and only after the dough has cooled slightly (below 140°F). Adding eggs to a too-hot dough scrambles them.
- **Make-ahead:** Bake the shells up to 24 hours ahead and store uncovered at room temperature or in a paper bag. Fill on the day of serving — filled puffs go soggy within 2-3 hours.
- **Storage:** Unfilled shells: 2 days at room temperature, 3 months frozen. Filled puffs: eat within 2 hours for best texture.
- **Equipment:** A large piping bag with a round tip (or a large zip-lock bag with the corner cut off) gives more consistent size than spooning.
- **Common mistake:** Opening the oven door during baking. The steam inside the oven is what makes choux puff. Opening the door lets steam escape and the shells collapse.
- **Doneness cue:** Cream puffs are done when they're deep golden brown all over — pale puffs will collapse after cooling. A hollow sound when tapped on the bottom confirms a dry interior.