Valentine's day with these little heart shaped cream puffs is a great way to end the evening. With such adorable little desserts, you'll feel the love in every raspberry and chocolate packed bite.
Everybody loves cream puffs (or maybe I just love them enough for everybody, haha). These little puffs are made using a cheater method- puff pastry to create easy cream puffs that are totally foolproof!
Now I know these aren't really cream puffs as you know it, but true cream puff pastry batter made on the stove with eggs and a TON of hand whisking. This momma has bad wrists and will cut corners when needed.
Using puff pastry reduces time and effort (and wrist pain) while giving us cute shaped puffs! We can use cookie cutters to get the shape and size we want, without fail every time. You can't say the same about actual cream puff dough, now can you?
The homemade raspberry whipped cream inside makes up for the corners we cut, and after one bite of a raspberry cream puff, everything will be forgiven. 😉
For more puff pastry recipes, make sure to check out my Strawberry Cream Cheese Turnovers and Puff Pastry Egg Tart.
Why This Recipe Works
- It's easy to make. With this "cheater" method, we can have delicious puff pastries in a shorter timeframe. Perfect for a simple dessert to celebrate any occasion.
- They're delicious. Not too sweet, not too tart, a perfect balance of flaky, rich, buttery, tangy, and sweet.
- This recipe is beginner friendly. Just starting with homemade desserts and treats? There's a lot to learn, but this recipe is a great one to try because it'll give you some basic understandings and experience needed to branch off to try other pastries later.
🥘 Ingredients
Whipping cream- You'll need some heavy cream for the filling.
Fresh raspberries- Fresh raspberries work great, but thawed frozen berries will work fine too.
Sugar- Use granulated sugar to sweeten the homemade whipped cream.
Vanilla extract- A flavor enhancer.
Puff Pastry- The shells of these cream puffs are puff pastry, so make sure to have some thawed puff pastry ready to go.
Eggwash- You will need an egg and some water to make your own eggwash. Brushing it over the top of the puff pastry before it bakes will give us a nice golden color.
Semi-sweet chocolate chips- This is optional, but adding a drizzle of melted chocolate really makes these cream puffs feel gourmet and helps to give them a contrast of flavor.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make Valentine's cream puffs with these simple step-by-step instructions:
Thaw the puff pastry and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the water and egg in a small bowl for the egg wash. Set aside for later.
Place the metal mixing bowl and mixers in the freezer for later.
Cut out heart shapes from the puff pastry, trying to get them as close together as possible to avoid wasting the dough.
Place cut out hearts on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue until all are cut.
Brush the tops with the egg wash.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool.
In a small bowl, mash the raspberries and half of the sugar.
Beat the whipping cream at high speed in the bowl from the freezer until soft peaks form.
Add in the remaining sugar and vanilla and then continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Fold in the raspberry mixture until well mixed.
Place the raspberry whipped cream into a bag and snip the corner.
Slice your cooled puff pastry hearts in half horizontally and pipe the cream onto the bottom half before topping with the top half like a sandwich.
Continue until all hearts have been filled.
In a small bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth.
Drizzle over the hearts and add sprinkles if desired.
Place in the fridge for the chocolate to set (about 5-10 minutes).
Serve cold and enjoy.
🍴 Recipe Tips
You can make any size or shape you want with these puff pastry sheets, but my favorites have been the 2 inch diameter-sized hearts. They're small enough for 2 or 3 bites and you can make a lot with two sheets of dough.
The only real trick is making sure to plan out exactly how you're going to cut them from the thawed dough because you can't re-roll it and expect good results. Puff pastry only puffs once.
The raspberry cream filling is not overly sweet. In fact, it's pretty refreshing with the fresh berry flavors and just enough sweetness to accent it. You can however add more sugar, to taste if you want it sweeter.
💭 FAQs
A cream puff is a light pastry (usually round) and filled with whipped cream or a cream filling.
If stored in an airtight container in the fridge, you can expect your cream puffs to last about 2 days. For best results eat them soon rather than later so that they don't become soggy.
You can freeze cream puffs in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Simply place a few on the counter for about 15 minutes to thaw when you want to eat them and you're good to go!
More great Valentine's day recipes to try
- Cherry Coke Cupcakes
- Valentines Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies
- Devil's Food Cake Mix Brownies
- Easy Red Velvet Funnel Cake
📖 Recipe
Valentine Cream Puffs with Raspberry Whipped Cream
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pint Whipping cream ($2.08)
- 6 ounce Fresh raspberries ($2.24)
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar ($0.07)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract ($0.02)
- 2 sheets Puff pastry (1 box) ($5.24)
- 1 large egg ($0.08)
- 1 Tablespoon Water ($0.00)
- 1 cup Semi-sweet chocolate ($0.99)
Optional Topping
- Valentines Sprinkles
Instructions
- Thaw your puff pastry on the counter for a good hour or until it's thawed enough to cut and unfold without breaking.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl combine the egg and the water and beat well. Set aside. This is the egg wash.
- Place the metal bowl of a stand mixer and the electric beaters in the freezer. This will help get the whipped cream to form up more quickly.
- Using a heart shaped cookie cutter, cut out the shapes from the puff pastry. Try to squeeze the hearts as close together as you can because you will not be able to re-roll the dough for another use.
- Place the heart puff pastries on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with the egg wash.
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. Allow to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, mash the raspberries with half of the sugar. If desired, you can strain the juice to remove seeds, or leave them in.
- Remove the metal bowl and beaters from the freezer.
- Pour the whipping cream into the bowl and beat on high until soft peaks form (about 1-2 minutes).
- Add in the vanilla and the remaining sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form (about another 3 minutes).
- Fold in the raspberry mixture until well combined.
- Place the raspberry whipped cream into a bag with the corner snipped off, or use a pastry bag with fitted round nozzle.
- Slice the puff pastry hearts in half horizontally and pipe the whipped cream onto the bottom half before topping with the other half like a sandwich.
- Continue until all cream puffs have been filled.
- In a small bowl, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each until smooth.
- Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the cream puffs and add festive sprinkles if desired.
- Place in fridge for about 5-10 minutes until the chocolate has set. Serve cold and enjoy.
Bret says
These were so good and such a huge hit!