Valentine Heart Cream Puffs

If you don't want to make hearts, you could just drop cream puff batter by the tablespoon onto the parchment lined pan.  The pastries on the right were filled with our Caramel Pudding.

Makes a 4 individual  hearts
Pastry
1/2 cup water                                                                               
1/4 cup butter
1/8 tsp. salt
½ cup whole wheat  pastry flour
2 large eggs
Raspberries

Honey Cream Filling  (go to Honey Banana Pudding, omitting bananas)
1/3 cup raw honey
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups 2% milk
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Dark Chocolate Glaze
2 squares 70% Lindt chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon raw honey


Preheat oven to 420°, reducing to 375° at baking time
Cut parchment paper to fit your baking sheet. Draw heart shapes, at least 1 inch apart on the underside of the parchment. (Discovered that the hard way when lead pencil imprinted on my cream puffs.) I use a heart-shaped cookie cutter (about 3" width) to draw around.

Heat water and butter to a rolling boil in a saucepan.  Stir in flour and salt.  Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture leaves the sides of the pan (about 1 minute).  Remove from heat and add eggs, one at a time.  Stir until smooth.

Place a sandwich baggie in a cup. Pull the zipper top over the outside to keep it clean. Fill the bag with pastry dough. Place the baggie on a flat surface and press the dough to the bottom. Zip and roll the top of the bag so the dough is confined to the bottom portion of the bag. Clip about 3/4 inch from one corner of the baggie. Squeeze the baggie gently and pipe the hearts along the lines that you drew on the parchment paper. Fill in the center with more piped dough. Dip your finger in water and smooth out the heart.

Reduce heat to 375° and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until golden brown. Turn off the oven and with door slightly open, allow the puffs to dry out for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack.  Allow puffs to cool completely. Once cool, they can be cut in half with a serrated knife. A small spoon is needed to remove any unbaked pastry. At this stage, the puffs can be wrapped airtight and frozen. 

If this is the big day to serve them, go to our recipe for Honey Banana Pudding, and make one batch. But leave out the bananas. Place plastic wrap over the pudding surface and when no longer too hot, place in frig to chill. Fill each cream puff bottom to its brim with the pudding and place raspberries around the edge. Cover with the lid and drizzle with dark chocolate glaze. Serve immediately.

Dark Chocolate Glaze: Place chocolate, broken in small pieces, butter and honey in a microwave proof bow.  Heat and stir in 10 second intervals until blended and smooth.