Beyond Sweet Cherry Cream Puff Valentines

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Cream puffs are an impressive dessert to serve, yet are surprisingly simple to make. This sweet version features pastries filled with rich cherry liqueur custard and whipped cream. For convenience, they may be made ahead and frozen, then quickly thawed and filled for an elegant treat for your Valentine.

Shape the puffs like hearts for Valentine’s Day or pipe domed shapes for a more traditional look. Either way, they are fun to make and a pleasure to eat.

Beyond Sweet Cherry Cream Puff Valentines

Makes about 10 large puffs or 16 small ones 

Filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup cherry liqueur (like Cherry Pie Liqueur)
• 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3-4 drops red food coloring (optional)
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

 Cream Puffs:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Cherry filling (Make this first, because it needs to sit for several hours before use.)

In a medium pan on medium low heat, whisk together the sugar, liqueur, eggs and butter until thickened…about 8-10 minutes. Stir constantly and don’t let it boil!

Move to a medium bowl, stir in the food coloring if desired, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

In a medium bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the cream into the chilled custard mixture until completely combined. Refrigerate until needed.

Cream Puffs:

Heat oven to 450 F.
In a medium pan over high heat, bring the butter and water to a boil.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the flour and salt. Stir until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the pan, about 30 seconds.
Remove from heat and place the dough into a large bowl. A stand mixer with a flat beater is best, but a mixing bowl and wooden spoon is fine if you prefer. Allow the dough to cool for 2-3 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition. Beat well after the last egg has been added. The dough should be rich and silky looking, and very sticky.

For hearts, drop two heaping tablespoons of dough next to each other on an ungreased cookies sheet. (A cookie scoop works well for this.)

Shape the sides down into a point at the bottom and smooth the hearts with a dampened fingertip or spoon back.

Place hearts at least an inch apart.
For traditional cream puffs, scoop or pipe rounds using about 3 tablespoons of dough, and doming the tops.

Place baking sheet in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 425
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the puffs are a rich golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool.

Cut the tops off of cooled cream puffs and remove any doughy excess to create a hollow puff.
Fill generously with chilled cherry filling and replace the top. Dust the tops with powdered sugar or put a dollop of filling and a maraschino cherry on top. Serve immediately.

Print off our Cherry Cream Puff Recipe here: