By Shannon Deady
Columnist
The season of love is upon us, and whether or not you have a special someone this Valentine's Day, taking a break from your studies for a sweet treat is a must. I never quite grew out of my love for the holiday, and just like in grammar school when we dropped chocolates and love notes into our friends’ heart-covered mailboxes, I still enjoy spreading the love with candies, cards and my favorite baked goods.
Although they can’t fit into a shoe-box converted card holder and would make quite a mess if you tried, homemade cream puffs are my chosen treat to share with friends this Galentine’s Day. They are surprisingly easy to make and with the addition of festive sprinkles and a few drops of food dye, they make the cutest surprise holiday treat!
Makes: 12 cream puffs
Ingredients:
Cream Puff
-½ cup butter
-1 cup water
-1 cup sifted flour
-4 eggs
Cream Filling
-1 pint heavy cream
-2 boxes vanilla pudding mix
-2 tablespoons sugar
-Red food dye
-Heart-shaped sprinkles
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet for baking.
- Bring butter and water to a boil in a medium sized pot on high heat. Once boiling, slowly add flour and stir until mixture is doughy.
- Remove from heat and add eggs one at a time while stirring quickly.
- Separate into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- Whip together heavy cream and sugar to make a light whipped cream, and prepare two boxes of pudding mix.
- Fold whipped cream into pudding mix and add red food coloring drops and sprinkles to desired amount.
- Use a spoon to open and stuff cooled cream puffs. Enjoy!
