When I was a kid growing up, my favorite treat to get at the bakery downtown was a cream puff. I’m still totally in love with the things–light and airy pastry/crust with creamy pudding goodness inside and a drizzle of chocolat on top. What’s not to love right? Except trying to make those suckers? Not as easy as they look. That said…here’s an easy variation on the theme.

Total Time: 1 Hr. 57 Min.
Prep Time: 20 Min.
Cook Time: 1 Hr. 37 Min.
16 Servings

Serve up something sweet and simple to prepare with our Easy Cream Puff Cake recipe. Our yummy Easy Cream Puff Cake takes only 20 minutes to prep.

What You Need
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2-1/2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
2 oz. BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 400°F.
2 – Bring butter, water and sugar to boil in medium saucepan, stirring occasionally. Add flour; cook and stir 3 min. or until mixture forms ball. Spoon into large bowl.
3 – Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating with mixer after each addition until all ingredients are well blended. Spread onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
4 – Bake 32 to 37 min. or until golden brown. (Dough will puff up along sides of baking dish). Cool completely.
5 – Meanwhile, mix cream cheese and milk in medium bowl until blended. Add pudding mixes; beat 2 min. Refrigerate until ready to use.
6 – Spread pudding mixture over cream puff crust just before serving; top with COOL WHIP.
7 – Melt chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over dessert.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Serving Suggestion: Sweets can add enjoyment to a balanced diet, but be sure to choose an appropriate portion.

Tip 2 – Make Ahead: Both the cream puff crust and pudding mixture can be prepared ahead of time. Store the cooled crust, tightly covered, at room temperature up to 24 hours before using as directed. Meanwhile, refrigerate the pudding mixture until ready to use.

As always, the wonderful MY FOOD AND FAMILY site has all the pertin3nt details. As for which of my heroines often makes this dessert, whatever you do, do NOT call her a cream puff. One, she’ll take offense and two, her mate Easy will fall over laughing. Those who’ve read NIGHT SHIFT know that when they first met, she was armed for bear–or Wolves, as it turned out. Their story is a dark one because the Nightriders live on the dark-and-dirty side of the Moonstruck world, but they get their HEA. If you haven’t already, grab the book from BOOKS2READ. Just click on that link, the title, or cover. That takes you to a universal landing page where you can pick out your favorite retailer to order from.

Pssst I’ll let you in on a little secret. One of the Wolves will totally eat the whole pan of this Cream Puff Cake all by himself. And he’s probably the last Wolf you’d expect. Any guesses? I’ll give you a hint, his roadname starts with an R and he has an accent. 😉

So what about y’all? Cream puff fans or not? What was your favorite treat from the bakery when you were a kid?