Hosting a Tea Party: Part One – Easy, Delicious Cream Puffs

the tea party spread in all its glory

I am not a connoisseur of many things. The nuances and subtleties of wine, beer, fast cars are all lost on me. I am, however, a lover of all teas irregardless of colour or origin. It was finally suggested to me that I host a tea party for friends, and I was very much up to the challenge. In my usual manner, I went to great lengths to create everything from scratch. In the end, I had quite the spread: cupcakes, blueberry scones, chocolate chip scones, sugar cookies, shortbread cookies, chocolate walnut biscotti, chocolate-dipped strawberries, miniature tea sandwiches and, of course, a plethora of tea. My favourite dessert I made was the one I was initially most intimidated by- cream puffs. Surprisingly, these were the most fun and the easiest to make out of all of them. Curiously, they were also the first dessert to be finished by the guests- in a mere 15 minutes!

I will hopefully share a few of the recipes (and photos!) from this great party, and these wonderful cream puffs will start it all off. Enjoyyour friends with this simple delicacy!

You will need:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 large eggs
• 1 package instant vanilla custard/pudding (I used a Jell-o brand one)

What you need to do for Cream Puffs:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the water and butter to boil. While this heats up, mix together the flour, salt and cornstarch in a medium bowl.
3. Once boiling, add the flour mixture all at once. Mix very quickly and consistently until a smooth dough forms.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating each one in well to avoid getting scrambled eggs:) Remove from heat once the dough is smooth and well-mixed.
5. Take tablespoon-fulls  of dough and roll in your hands to make smooth ball shapes. Place them on ungreased baking sheets 2″ or so apart.
6. Bake for around 25 minutes, or until the puffs are light golden brown and firm to touch.
7. While they are baking, make your pudding mix (see directions on the specific box you are using)
8. Cut the puffs in half horizonatally and fill it sandwich-style with ~1 tablespoon of your pudding filling

Waiting to be filled...

Enjoy!