Recipe: Goat Cheese and Roasted Cherry Cream Puffs

Have you heard of the BBC show Little Paris Kitchen? It's such a cute show, I watched all 6 episodes in one sitting. The chef, Rachel Khoo, teaches you how to make her own spin on classic French dishes. In one of the episodes she makes a winter salad comprised of carrots, beets, and other root vegetables. But what really piqued my interest was the goat cheese mousse she included, which was simply heavy cream and goat cheese whipped together. All of a sudden my head was swirling with ideas on what I could use it with.

For my first iteration (because I'm sure I'll be making this again and again), I decided to do a slight twist on the cream puff. Instead of filling the pâte a choux with whipped cream or pastry cream I used goat cheese mousse, and instead of chocolate ganache or powdered sugar I finished them off with a roasted cherry sauce. I really loved the unexpected flavor of the goat cheese but the roasted cherries were amazing! I had to keep myself from eating spoonful of it alone.

These were equally delicious with whipped cream inside, so if you're not a fan of goat cheese I'd still suggest making the roasted cherry sauce! I'd love to try them in ice cream, on pancakes, paired with flourless chocolate cake...just about anything, really.

Recipe: Goat Cheese and Roasted Cherry Cream Puffs

Pâte a Choux

1 c water 1/2 c butter 1 c flour 4 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 ° F. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a simmer. Add flour to saucepan at once, then turn off heat. Quickly stir together until a ball of dough forms and pulls away from the sides. Let cool for 3 minutes, then add eggs, one a a time. Stir thoroughly to combine before adding the next egg. Transfer to piping bag or simply spoon onto a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350° and bake for 20-30 more minutes, depending on size, until golden on top.

Roasted Cherry Sauce adapted from Jeni's Spendid Ice Creams At Home

1 heaping c cherries, pitted and halved 1/3 c sugar 1 tsp corn starch

Preheat oven to 400° F. Mix together cherries, sugar, and cornstarch in a baking dish at least 2" high (the mixture will bubble). Bake for 45 minutes until thickened, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool then refrigerate until needed.

Goat Cheese Cream

2 oz goat cheese 1 1/2 tsp milk 1/3 c heavy cream

Exact measurements aren't required to make the cream, so if you'd like more goat cheese flavor simply add more. Just remember to smooth out the texture before adding whipped cream.

In a medium bowl, use a rubber spatula to smooth out goat cheese with a teaspoon of milk. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream to a firm peak. Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the goat cheese to loosen up the mixture, then fold in the rest, being careful not to deflate the cream too much.