When it comes to desserts, choux a la crème are probably one of the most well-known desserts in the world. This amazing dessert is easy to make and recognizable by everybody. Choux a la crème is one of the main desserts in France and usually in Europe. It is also known as cream puff and it’s a type of pastry that has an empty center where various types of crème is put. It seems that this type of desert is common since the 1500s and it was invented by Catherine de Medici’s chef. However, it seems that it was only made perfect later when cream was added, about 200 years later. Choux a la crème is made with flower, milk, butter and eggs, like a regular pastry but it remains empty in the middle. The first reference for this desert first appeared in the 1700 edition of the Edward Phillips’s New World of English as petits choux, which were made as choux a la crème, only with fat.
Profiteroles are also similar to choux a la crème and they look similar only served on a plate. They are a very popular dessert that are filled sometimes with ice-cream and served with chocolate sauce. In France, they are a traditional food, always served as weddings. However, they are made differently there, as they are set in a pyramid form with caramelized sugar added. Another type of similar desserts are éclairs and it seems that all three deserts mentioned have almost the same origin although there is little information about the latter. The oldest recipe for something similar to éclairs or choux a la crème is a published recipe in an American cookbook dating 1884. This was also one of the times this type of dessert became popular as a variant with this name. All these types of pastries are known to have been invented by Marie-Antoine Carême.
There are many names for desserts that seem similar, but choux a la crème are definitely an unforgettable and an important dish when it comes to the essential foods that need to be cooked by a chef.