Pink Puffs

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups skim milk or 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk or 1 1/2 cups full-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (3 1/2 ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix or 1 (1 ounce) package sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red food coloring (optional)

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 400°f lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
• 2 combine the water, butter, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan, heat until the butter has melted, and bring to a rolling boil.
• 3 add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously until the mixture smoothes out and follows the spoon around the pan; this should take less than 30 seconds.
• 4 remove the pan from the heat, and let the mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes. it'll still feel hot, but you should be able to hold a finger in it for a few seconds.
• 5 transfer the dough to a mixer, and beat in the eggs one at a time; the mixture will look curdled at first, but when you add the last egg it should become smooth. beat for 1 minute after adding the last egg. you'll have a stiff, smooth batter.
• 6 drop the dough by teaspoonfuls (about the size of a chestnut) onto the prepared sheets (a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here). leave about 1 ½" to 2" between them; they're going to expand to about the size of a golf ball.
• 7 bake the puffs for about 20 minutes, till they've puffed, they're a medium golden-brown, and they look dry.
• 8 remove baked puffs from the oven, and use a sharp knife to cut a slit into the side of each puff, for steam to escape; this will help prevent them from becoming soggy. return the puffs to the oven for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool.
• 9 to fill puffs: combine all of the filling ingredients, stirring till it's begun to thicken. refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. pudding can be made ahead; puffs are best filled just before serving.
• 10 gently open each puff along a natural "fault line;" you'll see where they want to split. fill bottom half of each puff with 2 measured teaspoons of filling, and replace with top half. too fill puffs fuller, see tip at right.
• 11 sift confectioners' sugar atop puffs just before serving. for pink sugar, combine sugar with red food coloring in a blender or food processor (a mini processor works well here). rub the pink sugar through a sieve onto the puffs.