Cream puffs never go out of style, but we added espresso powder to give these a new flavor. To lighten them, we decreased the butter in the puffs and used fat-free milk. We also added gelatin and whipped topping to the pastry cream for an incredibly light and creamy filling that holds up well.
As three stars suggests, this is a good, solid recipe. I thought it deserved a second chance because it only had one rating and that was of one star. The end result of these cream puffs was delicious. The outside had a wonderful texture as well as an espresso flavor, and the cream was sweet but not overly so. The problem I encountered with this recipe was when making the cream. I followed the recipe exactly, but the egg whites wouldn't mix in with the rest of the milk etc. As it got thicker, there were little pieces of cooked egg whites in the mixture. I tried picking them out, and picked out about half and it wasn't a problem. I would stir that part with a whisk, and I would stir it constantly. I would make this again if there weren't millions of other delicious recipes out there to try. But it wasn't too much trouble and a good result.
The cookie itself is bla, bitter, tasteless. I put 4 extra teaspoons of sugar in it just because the dough tasted terrible. With the cream in the middle, it's alright, but it's time consuming, a TON of work, and not really worth it. It took me so long to make them, but I don't feel like I can take them to the party I planned on bringing them to. Guess I'm bringing a cheese plate.
