Cream Puff Swans (Choux Pastry)

This is more than just your usual cream puff swan. Sure, this is a recipe for choux pastry. But it’s also filled with a delicious orange-zested Chantilly cream. And a little something more…can you guess what it is? That’s right bestie. Chocolate. The ganache kind. (If you’re already thinking that these Choux swans are going to knock your socks off, you’re right.)

Valentine’s Day is coming up bestie! I know, I know…it’s a big ol’ commercial hoax designed to guilt couples into spending money on greetings cards they don’t need in order to express love they already share yada yada yada…I totally get it. It’s cliché. And it’s unnecessary. But here’s the thing…it can be nice. And it’s just another day to make your loved one feel special. And that’s always a good thing.

That said, it IS super commercialised, and CRAZY expensive. Like, cwhay-zhee expensive. And that can deter people from doing that something special. But don’t you worry bestie. I got you.

This recipe for Cream Puff Swans (or really any shape you feel like making) is here to solve all your Valentine’s Day problems. Want to get your loved one something personal? Check. Want it to be pretty? Check. Want it to be French? Check. Want to be able to eat it? Double-check!

Want to give it a French name? Call it Pierre.

(And you know what else? It’s kinda really easy. And it doesn’t even need many ingredients.)

Also, here’s the script I want you to use when you serve these cream puff swans to your valentine:

“These beautiful choux pastries (make sure to say choux pastry, it sounds fancier!) are filled with a decadent chocolate ganache, a sweet Chantilly cream, delicately flavoured with orange zest, and topped with icing sugar…now, what did you get me?”

Jump to:

• What are Cream Puff Swans
• Ingredients
• How to make Cream Puff Swans
• Tips
• How to store Choux Swans
• Helpful Tools
• Cream Puff Swans, Updated
• More dessert recipes 
• 📖 Recipe

What are Cream Puff Swans

Cream Puff Swans are essentially little pastries (specifically, choux pastry/pate a choux) piped to look like swans. They’re typically filled with whipped cream, though this recipe uses an orange-zested cream filling as well as a chocolate ganache (this is essentially a slightly thickened chocolate sauce) layer for a little decadence. 

What is Choux pastry / Pâte à choux?

Pâte à choux is a light French pastry made using butter, water, sugar, flour, and eggs. It is used to make a lot of popular French desserts such as eclairs, profiteroles, cream puffs, and chouquettes.

Ingredients

For the Cream Puffs/Choux Pastry

• Butter, unsalted
• Water
• Salt
• Sugar
• All-Purpose Flour
• Eggs
• Icing Sugar (but just for dusting)

For Chantilly Cream

• Whipping Cream
• Icing Sugar
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Orange Zest

For Chocolate Ganache

• Dark Chocolate
• Whipping Cream
• Honey

How to make Cream Puff Swans

We’re going to break this down into 3.5 parts, bestie. Why three and a half, you ask? Because I’m awkward. And it’ll make a lot more sense when you see it. We’ll start with making the choux pastry/cream puffs, followed by making the whipped cream filling, then the chocolate ganache, and finally putting it all together by assembling choux swans (which is part of making the choux pastry). 

Making Choux Pastry

Making choux pastry isn’t as hard as you might think. It’s often treated as a beginner pastry in Europe (similar to how brownies are often the first thing one might have made in North America). There are a couple of extra steps, and the pastry is slightly more sensitive to mistakes, but this is a very do-able recipe for people early in their baking journey.

You’ll begin by creating a panade by mixing butter, water, salt and flour over heat. Once the panade is dry enough, it will form a smooth consistency, and coat the pan with a film-like look.

Move the panade to a cool bowl, and mix in your eggs – one by one (this is important!). Beat the eggs until a smooth, pipe-able batter is formed. The challenge here is to know how many eggs is correct – this recipe uses 4 eggs but depending on factors like the humidity of your kitchen and the size of your eggs, you may find you just need three!

Finally, pipe and bake your choux pastry!

How to pipe pate a choux swans

There are two components to this: the neck/head and the body/wings. You will need to pipe each separately. The neck and head of the swan are made by piping a thin, elongated ‘S’-shape. It’s recommended you use a slimmer piping nozzle for this. 

For the swan bodies/wings, you’re going to pipe a fatter, straight loaf-shape – taller on one end. It’s recommended you use a wider piping nozzle for this step. And once baked, to create the swan wings, you’ll be cutting off the top of the loaf, and cutting that piece into two to create wings. 

It sounds more difficult than it is! Look at the photos, and check out the recipe video to see exactly how to do it.  

Making Orange-Zested Chantilly Cream

This bit is super easy. It’s exactly the same as making any Chantilly cream (that is, sweetened whipped cream), but you’re adding a touch of orange zest into the mix. Use a handheld mixer to make your life easier, or opt to mix by hand to get your cardio in for the day. 

The whipped cream is piped (or spooned!) into the hollowed out cream puff bodies.

Making Chocolate Ganache

Another easy component – All you need to do is bring the cream to a boil, melt the chocolate in it, and mix in the honey until everything is smooth and incorporated. Toss the mixture into the fridge to cool (just keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t become super firm), or set it aside.  

The chocolate ganache is piped (or spooned!) into the cream puff swan bodies (before the whipped cream is piped in).

Tips

• Make a few extra swan necks/heads in case a few break or burn! These are pretty thin bits of pastry so it’s easy to burn them in the oven. As a rule, they will bake quicker than any other components on your baking sheet. 
• Use a sharp tip (such as a toothpick or thin knife) to create little heads on the swan necks. All you need to do is dip into the top of the neck and swiftly flick to the side.
• Use a serrated knife to cut the baked swan bodies. 
• Attach a star tip to your pastry bag when piping the swan bodies. It adds a little extra texture. However, if you don’t have one available, a standard round tip will be great.
• Allowing the cream puffs to cool in the oven (with the door slightly ajar) helps the pastry to dry out. Some people will suggest also poking small holes at the bottom of your cream puff creation, and this is generally a good practice, though I rarely do it for this recipe. 
• When it comes to piping the whipped cream or chocolate ganache, you can save a little time by spooning each component in. It’s ever-so-slightly less pretty, but certainly a viable option!
• Refrigerate the finished product before serving. This isn’t required, but it helps the cream and chocolate set the swans you’ve created. 

How to store Choux Swans

These beautiful little Choux pastry swans will keep for 3-4 days, refrigerated in an airtight container. Though I recommend eating them on the same day…because they’re delicious, and you deserve to eat them all! 

Helpful Tools

The link below is an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase using it, I will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). These small commissions help keep Chocolates & Chai going. Thank you.

To make this recipe as easily as possible, you will benefit from having a piping bag and nozzles as well as a small handheld mixer. 

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Cream Puff Swans, Updated

This post is an update of my “Cream Puff Swans (Choux Pastry)” post, originally published February 9th, 2017. I’ve re-written the majority of the post to give clearer more detailed instructions, added new photos, as well as a handy-dandy Choux swan recipe video to make the process as clear as possible!  

More dessert recipes 

• Lemon Curd Cake with White Chocolate Swiss Buttercream
• Raspberry Eton mess
• Lemon & Poppy Seed Mini Madeleines

And that’s it, bestie! That’s pretty much everything you need to know to make Cream Puff Swans at home. Have you ever worked with choux pastry? What do you think? Easy or complicated? Let me know in the comments below. 

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📖 Recipe