Paleo Cream Puffs? Now, There’s a Challenge!
I so cherish emails from all of you readers who take the time to send in a question, make a comment or suggestion or give feedback, whether positive or critical.
I also love a challenge.
While it’s ridiculously simple to Paleoize certain recipes (such as swapping out butter for coconut oil in a saute), there are other recipes which are not quite so easy.
Below is an inquiry I received from a reader, hoping to concoct a Paleo version of a childhood treat:
Dear Nell,
I’ve been following your blog over the past few years and have thoroughly enjoyed you “paleoizing” some of the common foods.
I have a question for you to see if you can help out with this one. My birthday is coming up soon, and my girlfriend has asked me what my favorite dessert is, and th first thing that popped to my mind was “cream puffs”. Now, I haven’t had a cream puff in almost thirty years, but one of my happiest childhood memories is linked to that dessert and I would really like to find a way to “make it paleo” if at all possible.
The ingredients in a “common” cream puff, are about as non-paleo as they come, and I’m pretty stumped myself on how to even start, but I’ve seen some of your successes before and I know you enjoy a good challenge.
The recipe I’ve found contains instant vanilla pudding mix, heavy cream, milk, butter, water, salt, flour and eggs.
Well, he was right about that- in the entire list of ingredients, there are two things that are Paleo- water and eggs!
I asked him what it was about the cream puffs he wanted. Was it the light texture? The flavor? I was hoping he’d say the creaminess, as in that case, I’d suggest something coconut-y right away. He replied that he liked “the combo of the pastry with the filling, and the smell of the vanilla in the filling that brings out the silly happy childhood memory.”
Our next email exchange really crystalized an idea I was coming up with.
There’s no pretending that a Paleo Puffy Pastry idea is going to work. BUT…how about meringue? I recently did a post for a chocolate meringue recipe, so using that as a starting point, here’s the concept I came up with:
Follow the same meringue recipe, but make them in a larger portion to simulate the size of the pastry in a cream puff.
Then, using fresh coconut meat and cream whipped with some vanilla and a dab of raw honey, transformed into a dreamy consistency, and perhaps some fresh ripe fruit (I envision organic strawberries, if they’re available locally near you as they are here), you’d have your Paleoized concoction that would hopefully provide that homely childhood memory of a cream puff!
Click HERE for the recipe for coconut cream.
Happy Birthday!
