Cream Puffs with Fluffy Creamy Meyer Lemon Curd
Our popular cream puffs recipe is fluffy and wonderful. We use meyer lemons because our trees are plentiful with fruit. But you can use any lemon variety you want.
Easy Cream Puffs Recipe
It’s this time of year that we’re raining citrus in Southern California. Over the course of our gardening journey, we’ve become a little greedy. Call us hoarding if you wish, but what ever the confession is, we’ve always been obsessed with citrus, especially meyer lemons.
Since we started planting our garden in 2002, we’ve collected almost 40 fruit trees, over half have been citrus trees ranging from the everyday lemon to exotic yuzu and buddhas hands. It’s not that we haven’t had our challenges. Some citrus trees have and continue to flourish, while some have died under stresses of disease, pests, over-watering, under-watering and from our learning curves.
An oldie but goodie video: For the Love of Meyer Lemons
Both the success and losses of fruit trees haven’t stopped our obsession. When we lose a tree, we grieve over our loss and bounce back to figure out what we did wrong and start over again. When we look at a flourishing citrus tree in the So Cal winter and early spring when it is at its peak, it’s hard to not to fall in love with the whole process and end results. Call it obsession, addiction or just pure love. We’re totally enamored with citrus to the point where we might need therapy.
This month has been fantastic and Mother Nature has been generous with meyer lemons. Our two trees are happy, healthy and just won’t stop. We’re trying to keep up with every meyer lemon recipe we can find or develop, but it’s hard to hoard it all ourselves. A few big bags and baskets have been passed on to friends and neighbors and always followed by a big gasp and smile of lemon love.
One of the biggest joys in gardening is to share our abundance and bounty with those who appreciate it. Because of those happy faces, we just can’t stop. Bunches of citrus bring so much joy, they’re like Winter’s Sunshine.
pipe the puffs to a consistent size for even baking
Last week was all about this cream puffs recipe with meyer lemon curd. Folks is literally the best filling we’ve ever had. You must try a batch!
The whipped meyer lemon curd filling is fragrant, floral and full of meyer lemon flavor. It’s this meyer lemon curd that is perfectly tangy and sweet, and then when folded into whipped cream the texture becomes INCREDIBLE. It’s hard to not eat it by the spoonfulls. You just might end up eating the whole bowl of fluffy whipped meyer lemon curd. Who needs the actual cream puff?!
gently fold the lemon curd into whipped cream
Don’t feel guilty if you find yourself making a second batch of the whipped fluffy meyer lemon curd. It just means that you love meyer lemons just as much as we do.
Cheers for the love of meyer lemons,
diane and todd
poke and stuff with creamed meyer lemon curd
you can’t eat just one of these cream puffs
More Meyer Lemon Recipes here that you might enjoy.
This post was originally published in 2015 and was republished in 2019 with slight updates.
Meyer Lemon Cream Puffs
Ingredients
Whipped Meyer Lemon Curd
- finely grated zest from 1-2 meyer lemons
- 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 m l) fresh meyer lemon juice
- 2 eggs
- 5 Tablespoons (75 g) butter , cut into small pieces
- 1 pinch kosher salt , or to taste
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch (to stabilize the whipped cream - you don't have to add this if piping and serving right away)
Puffs
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
- 1/2 cup (113 g) butter (one stick)
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) kosher salt
- 1 cup (125 g) flour
- 4 large eggs
- powdered sugar , for dusting the cream puffs
Instructions
- Make the meyer lemon curd. Combine the meyer lemon zest and sugar in a blender or food processor. Blend until the zest is well ground into the sugar, 30 seconds-1 minute. Add the meyer lemon juice, eggs, butter pieces, and salt. Blend until well combined, about 30 seconds (the butter will look cottage cheese like).
- Pour the mixture into a heat-proof bowl and place over a pot of simmering water (you can also just place it directly into a medium saucepan over medium heat, however the mixture can easily burn if not watched carefully and stirred meticulously). Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the curd thickens and reaches about 170°F (77°C), about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool in the fridge until fully chilled.
- Whip the cream and cornstarch until nearly stiff peaks. Fold the chilled meyer lemon curd into the whipped cream. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to pipe into the cream puffs.
- Make the puffs. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat. Stir in the flour. Stirring constantly, cook the mixture until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and is slightly shiny, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer the paste to a stand mixer bowl fit with a beater blade (you can also continue mixing by hand, but it will take a bit of arm power). Beat the paste for a couple minutes or until slightly cooled. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in each completely before adding the next. Beat until the eggs are fully incorporated into the dough. Place the dough in a pastry bag fit with a 1/2-inch plain tip.
- On the prepared baking sheets, pipe the dough into 2-inch discs about 3/4-inch high. (Piping Tip: to make evenly sized puffs, count as you pipe, making sure to use even pressure each time. For these puffs I'll usually pipe to a count of 4-6 seconds depending on how large I want the puffs). Make sure to give a bit of space between each puffs as they'll expand when they bake (we'll usually make 4 rows of 5 across on a regular baking sheet).
- Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 10 minutes. Rotate the tray and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (175°C). Continue baking for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and slightly crisp. Allow the puffs to cool.
- Place the meyer lemon cream in a pastry bag fit with a small plain tip. Break through the outer shell of the puffs using the pastry bag tip and pipe the meyer lemon cream into the puffs.
- Dust the cream puffs with powdered sugar. Best served same day (the second day the puff shells will soften and lose their slight crispness - still tasty but not quite the same texture. See headnote for tips on making a day ahead.)
What a delicious dessert! I am always wondering about fun things to do with lemons! I love what you guys do!!
The cream puffs look divine, but the plates! Please tell me where I can purchase.
Even if I have to live it through your beautiful photos, I am loving this warm citrus streak! Brings a bit of warmth to us East coast people. Gorgeous!
I wanted to let you know that I made this recipe TWICE in one week and they were a huge hit at both gatherings. My mom ships her organic, backyard grown meyer lemons in California and I am lucky enough to receive them whenever I want a taste of sunshine. Their dwarf meyer lemon tree is incredibly prolific and they can’t give them away fast enough. This recipe is spot-on, easy to make and a great dessert to bring to any gathering. Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe!
The recipe sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
Wonderful recipe, it sounds so light and luscious. I have been baking cream puffs since I was in middle school and I have made lemon curd before, never thought to combine the two. I don’t know if piping the puffs is really adding much to the final shape/structure? I find that using two spoons and then going over them with a wet finger to smooth out produces basically the same end result.
Thanks Mila,
Spooning out the puffs would work great too. We just like how easy it is to pipe the puffs, but if we didn’t have any pastry bags handy then we would make them exactly as you described. Thanks for sharing and reminding us of that method too.
T & D
Oh how lovely. These look heavenly. Meyer lemons are my favorite and I just so happen to have a big pile of them. I know what I’m making next!
Oh how I wish I was your neighbor! That meyer lemon cream filling sounds divine,
I love citrus too but don’t get much of it over on the east coast right now. My dad, however, is still “babying” a orange tree I brought him from FL in 2008 haha. He loves that thing. I may need to invest in a few Meyer lemon trees too! Love the cream puffs!
Wish we had such lemons grow in India! ๐ Love cream puffs and the idea of filling them with lemon curd sounds delicious!
Amazing. I’ve just been thinking about this combo, it’s like you read my mind!
Your beautiful meyer lemon tree, that video and these cream puffs .. I die. . love it all! ๐
This is the #1 reason I would move more south than we do now. My grandparents live down in Fresno and I remember going through all the orange groves there when I was a kid and eating as much fresh oranges and making as much lemon and lime everything we could stand. They ripped the groves out down there and built houses and I cried so much as a kid when I found out. I so wish we could grow them here but it’s just too darn cold. Love all these photos! Takes me right back to those groves. <3
I used to make cream puffs all the time!! When I was first married I would make them for my father-in-law. He has such a sweet tooth. I didn’t make the lemon filling which sounds fantastic. I’ll have to try my hand at it again. Thank you for the inspiration!!
These cream puffs are stunning! Just love the flavour!
Wow, what stunners! Your love for citrus and meyer lemons in general is clearly evident in these words – the way you lovingly nurture the trees to help, your approach to spreading their bounty, your mourning at the loss of each tree… It’s all incredibly humbling and beautiful. As are, of course, the resulting meyer lemon puffs. Thank you for sharing these – I can see even those of us who were not blessed with meyer lemon trees enjoying them.