Spending the morning with family is always wonderful. Spending the morning with family while stuffing your face with an amazing brunch is the best. We went to a pretty good Mother’s Day brunch spot this year, Portage Bay Cafe in Seattle. Unfortunately, my gift giving skills seriously lack, but I tried to think of something that could be given to all the mom’s in my close family rather than buying different gifts for each person. Sweets. Sweets is always the answer. The ladies in my family definitely have a sweet tooth, so baked goods is usually a safe bet.

I somehow got a random craving for a very almond flavored cream puff the past few months and I had no idea where I would have even tasted something like that. Most cream puffs I eat are just regular whipped cream filling or green tea fillings (Beard Papa’s green tea). So I got to researching various pastry choux (puff) recipes and filling recipes. I made three batches and got inconsistent results. One entire batch sunk flat. I later read that it can fall flat while cooling, because there is too much moisture inside (under-cooked). I ripped some open and that was definitely the culprit — still doughy inside. Strangely, I had froze a single piped dough the night before and baked it together with this batch, and while all the freshly made batch sank, this frozen one puffed up wonderfully. No idea why.

The ones pictured were the best out of them all. Very flavorful, perfect puff pastry, good almond flavor. Although, I used almond meal flour to make the almond cream to be mixed with the pastry cream, which turned a little grainy at the end. It’s not the same, but I want to test out using almond paste (not marzipan) in hopes of a smoother filling.

If I have the time and motivation, I will attempt to make this again. I really want to perfect this one.