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Many years ago, author Deborah Raney first introduced me to Cream Puff Dessert. It’s a delicious, easy recipe to make and great for potlucks or family entertaining. My family loves it and requests it often.
As I often do, I changed the original recipe to suite my needs, using an old family recipe for puff pastry, and switching out vanilla or chocolate pudding with French Vanilla instant pudding.
What is Puff Pastry?
You may be wondering what puff pastry is. Don’t confuse this recipe for the type of puff pastry that you find in the freezer section at the store–made with a lamination process of over a pound of butter, then rolled thin to make croissants and other wonderful French Pâtisseries.
Instead, the easy puff pastry I’m referring to now is Choux Pastry, which is used to make Cream Puffs, Eclairs, and other filled desserts or appetizers.
But truly, this recipe is easy to make, despite the fancy Choux Pastry name and doesn’t take that much time to put together. All you need is butter, water, flour, and eggs to make the puff pastry, and then instant pudding, cream cheese, a carton of whipped topping, and a bottle of chocolate syrup! Voilà, done!
Really, the most difficult part of this recipe is the puff pastry–which is so simple to prepare. Once you make it, you’ll wonder why you thought it was so hard!
Ingredients for Cream Puff Dessert
(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
Instructions for Making this Recipe
Preheat oven to 400°F. Gather the ingredients so you have everything close at hand on the counter or table.
Prepare the Puff Pastry
To make puff pastry (choux pastry), simply boil water and melt the butter. Add the all-purpose flour and vigorously stir with a long handled wooden spoon until a ball forms.
Transfer the mixture to a large mixer where you’ll add in large eggs one at a time, beating well between additions.
To bake the crust, place the puff pastry into an ungreased oblong pan. Press it down in the center, so that the sides form a crust along the edges. Bake the crust in a preheated oven. Once it’s baked, press the center crust down with a spatula to help form an outer crust. Easy, peasy.
Make the Pudding
The pudding section is also a snap to make. A combination of softened cream cheese, instant pudding, and whole milk. I like to use French Vanilla Pudding for this dish. Vanilla works in a pinch, but the French Vanilla flavoring just gives it an “oh la la” moment.
Mix all of this together into one dreamy, creamy concoction. Then add the pudding mixture to your cooled crust and top it with whipped topping.
At this point, you’ll want to cover and refrigerate the dish for at least an hour before serving. Right before you’re ready to serve, drizzle the dessert with your favorite chocolate syrup.
It’s best to serve this dessert soon after you’ve added the chocolate syrup, as the chocolate tends to spread and stain the whipped topping after awhile. I do think that Hershey’s syrup performs better than others.
When you’re ready to serve dessert, simply slice it into 16-20 pieces.
This Cream Puff Dessert is not only delicious, it’s pretty to serve. A cream puff in a pan. Your company will be licking their plates and asking (or dreaming) for more.
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Cream Puff Dessert
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Ingredients
Puff Pastry
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
Filling
- 8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
- 6.8 oz French Vanilla instant pudding ((2 small packages))
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
Topping
- 8 oz. frozen whipped topping (thawed)
- 1/3 cup chocolate syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gather the ingredients and have on the table or counter.
Prepare the Puff Pastry
- In a medium saucepan, boil the water and melt butter. Add in all-purpose flour. Mix vigorously with a wooden spoon. Dough will form a ball. Remove from heat.
- Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Beat in large eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each.
- Spread the puff pastry in an ungreased 9" x 13" pan. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. Press down crust as it bubbles. Bake for another 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Press down crust once more and allow to cool.
Make the Pudding Filling
- To make the filling, beat room temperature cream cheese in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add pudding mix and slowly stir in the whole milk. Mix until thickened, about 2 minutes.
- Spread the filling onto the cooled crust. Top with whipped topping. Drizzle with chocolate syrup. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Serves 16-20.
This looks yummy!
I hope you'll enjoy it, Marie! Have a great day!