Chocolate Cream Puff Swans: An Elegant Dessert For Any Fancy Party
Creams puffs are a delicious, yet sadly underrated dessert – you don't see them around nearly as much as you should! But that's all about to change, because once your guests get a load of this unique twist on the light and fluffy treats, they'll be in huge demand from here on out.
You'll need:
For the choux pastry dough:
- 4 tbsp butter
- ½ fl oz water
- ½ tsp salt
- 4½ oz flour
- 3 eggs
For the chocolate ganache:
- 4 oz chocolate
- 4 oz heavy cream
For the cream filling:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 4 oz whipped cream
Here's how:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. First prepare the choux pastry by heating the butter in a pot and adding the water, salt, and flour. Stir until smooth and remove the pot from the heat. Let everything cool down before gently mixing in the 3 eggs with a hand mixer. Put ⅔ of the pastry dough in a piping bag with a star tip and the other ⅓ of the pastry dough in a piping bag with a small hole tip.
2. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Take the piping bag with the star tip and make 5 small masses like the ones shown in the video. Bake 7-10 minutes.
3. Line another sheet pan with parchment paper. Take the piping bag with the small hole tip and draw the number "2" on the paper. Repeat this until you have a total of five and bake for 20 minutes.
4. For the chocolate ganache, heat the heavy cream until it is boiling, add it to the finely chopped chocolate, and stir together until smooth.
5. For the cream filling, stir the cream cheese, vanilla extract, and sugar together with a hand mixer and gently fold in the whipped cream. Spoon the cream filling into a piping bag with a star tip.
6. Once the pastry dough has cooled, use a knife to cut off the top of the "swan body" and then spoon a small amount of chocolate ganache into the cavity. Add a thick dollop of cream filling on top and then gently stick the "swan neck" in the cream.
7. Take the removed tops of the "swan bodies" and cut them in half. Stick each half into the cream filling on either side of the swan body to create wings. Sprinkle the creations with powdered sugar and your creative swans are ready to shake a tail feather.
No one will be able to accuse your beautiful swans of having once been ugly ducklings! And once you taste the rich chocolate cream combined with the airy cream filling, you'll know right away that this is a true culinary delight.
You can find the recipe for the Strawberry Cream Puffs featured in the bonus video here.