Cream puff
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A cream puff is a dessert made from a filled choux pastry (pâte à choux), a warm dough made with water, butter, flour and eggs. The filling is typically whipped cream or custard. The eggs cause the pastry to puff up into a hollow ball which can be filled by injection or by slicing off the top of the pastry which is later replaced. Cream puffs can be topped with powdered sugar, frosting, fruit, or chocolate.
The cream puff originated in Italy, and is said to have been created by Poelini, a chef to Catherine de Medici. It was then brought over to France in the 16th century. It debuted at the Wisconsin State Fair in 1924. In 2005, over 340,000 cream puffs were sold at the fair, taking in a profit of over $1 million [1].
Currently, there is a growing appreciation of cream puffs. Several companies in Japan have popularized the pastry, including Choux Factory and Beard Papa.
A profiterole is a cream puff filled with ice cream and typically topped with a chocolate sauce.
Sources
- Ayto, John. An A-Z of Food and Drink. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2002
- Lang, Jenifer Harvey. Larousse Gastronomique. Crown: New York, 1988
- Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. History of Food. Barnes & Noble: New York, 1992