It’s finally spring!!
This year Germany’s weather has been very generous welcoming the new season with lots of sunshine! It couldn’t have been nicer! Home decoration project with lots of beautiful flowers can begin! That was the perfect time to go to the market to buy some tulips. That’s actually all I wanted to start with that day…if I didn’t run into a lady who was selling wonderful cherry branches. As you can see in my pictures I could not resist that temptation.
We don’t have our own garden. And as the balcony is not big enough to fit a whole tree, I can at least enjoy the beauty of some cherry branches, right?
I started taking pictures earlier than usual in the morning. My original plan was to focus on the cream puffs…100 pictures later I realized that I got a little carried away in the midst of my spring mood photo shoot:) That is why I decided to post more pictures than usual.
Now back to the cream puffs which are deliciously filled with a simple and fresh cocoa mascarpone cream. What a sweet way to let the new season begin :)
Happy spring!
CREAM PUFFS WITH COCOA MASCARPONE
Ingredients:
250 ml / 8½fl oz of water
150 g / 5¼ oz of flour
60 g / 2 oz of butter
4 eggs
1 tsp of baking powder
a pinch of salt
Cream:
300 g / 10½ oz of mascarpone
2 tbsp of sugar
3 full tsp of cocoa powder (unsweetened)
(alternatively unsweetened whipped cream)
* * * * *
Pour water, butter and salt into a large pot and turn the stove on at medium heat. Stir once in a while until the butter has dissolved.
As soon as the water-butter mix is about to boil, reduce the heat to low.
Stir in the flour and baking powder. Keep stirring until the dough looks like a ball.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the eggs – one at a time. Mix everything well, until the previous dough has completely absorbed the eggs.
Preheat the oven at 200°C / 392°F.
Cover a baking pan with baking paper.
Now you can either use a tablespoon or an icing bag to place the dough on the pan. Just make sure not to place the cream puffs too close to each other.
Bake for about 25min until golden brown.
In the meantime prepare the filling by whisking the mascarpone until creamy. Add sugar, followed by the cocoa powder. Mix well. At this point you can also stir in some whipped cream to taste, for a fluffier cream. In that case add more sugar if necessary.
Remove the cream puffs from the oven and let cool off completely.
In order to fill them you can either cut them in half or use an icing bag. For the latter one you don’t need to cut them! Simply insert the tip of the icing bag into the bottom or into the side, wherever you find a little hole.
Store in the fridge.
Note: They shouldn’t be stored longer than a day or two. If you want to prepare them ahead, bake them and fill with the cream only when ready to be served.
Prep Time: 1-1½h
Serves approx. 25 pieces
huntfortheverybest says
they look great and lovely photos!
mediterranealicious says
Thank you! :)
rosasdolcevitaRosa says
Oh my! Your photos are soooo beautiful and I love the simplicity of this recipe. :-)
What camera do you shoot with? I used to use my husband’s Canon EOS 400D until it broke several months ago. I’m thinking about getting the Nikon 5200 or 5300. but I’m not sure yet.
Your photography is stunning. :-)
mediterranealicious says
Grazie mille Rosa!! The camera I shoot with is a Nikon D5100. I took my first food pictures with the kit lense. Shortly after I got a 50mm lense. It’s pretty cheap compared to others, and it’s perfect if you shoot with low light and if you like bokeh effects!
For beginners like me my Nikon has been great so far. And I still have so many more features to discover! I hope I could inspire you a little :)