Cream Puffs!!!

So, tonight is my husband Scott's 41st birthday. I generally try to make it special. I try to make all birthdays special. I think birthdays are a gift, and should be celebrated as such (Remind me of this when I hit 40.) Anyway, I had planned to cook him his favorite dinner tonight (spaghetti), go to an I-Cubs baseball game tomorrow and Adventureland on Saturday. But that wasn't meant to be. We have a party to attend in Sioux City on Saturday, and I am afraid tomorrow's baseball game is going to be a downpour. So, my birthday plans kind of road on tonight. I decided a week ago that I wasn't going to do a traditional birthday cake. I wanted something special. So I broke out a recipe for my Grandma Stahl's homemade Cream Puffs. (And by homemade, I mean that she got it from a very old Betty Crocker Cookbook.)

So... as I leave work, Scott calls to say that the power is out in the neighborhood. Hmmm... no cooking, no a/c. I ask him to make a choice, and we ate out. It was ok. But I think that's because I had my heart set on making him Spaghetti.

Obviously by the title of the post, I came home and made Scott the Grandma's Cream Puffs. My friend Sue suggested that I blog the process, so here you go:

Grandma Stahl's Homemade Cream Puffs
You will need:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

1 cup Water
1 stick Butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup flour
4 eggs beaten

4 oz. Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (I use sugar-free) (that's 4 small boxes!)
1 cup Milk
2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream.

ok... here we go:

Step 1: Bring the water and butter to a rolling boil in a medium sauce pan.
Turn the heat down to low.

Gently blend in the one cup of flour until the mixture is smooth.

Add all 4 beaten eggs and mix together until the mixture is very smooth, slightly shiny, and almost ball-like.

Drop the warm dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 3" apart.

They are best left free form. Imperfection is perfect. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Check at 30 minutes, because mine were a little darker than usual, new oven though. Golden brown is the ideal. Remove from the oven and let them cool on their pan in a cool, dry room with no breezes. Think souffle, they will collapse if too much air moves around. your goal is a solid outside with a soft, air-like pastry on the inside.

The ingredients for the filling. Couldn't be more easy. Except you'll need 4 of the small puddings.

Beat the pudding and the milk until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the half and half. Beat for another 2 minutes until soft peaks form. Refrigerate immediately if not eating right away.

The finished cream puff!
Assembly: Using a serrated knife, cut the top 3rd of the puff off. Remove it. Spoon the filling on the bottom, replace the cap of the puff. dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Store the cream in the refrigerator. Store the puffs in an air-tight container, also in the fridge. Should last a few days if they aren't gobbled up by then! :)