Best Spanish Cream Puffs Recipe

In a world full of traditional Spanish desserts, there are times when it is difficult to choose just one to make.

Of course, we provide you with several recipes for you to try and make as many as possible, and today we will introduce you to the Spanish cream puffs.

They are a unique take on the classic cream puffs, and even many people agree that they are more delicious.

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Continue reading to learn how to make them at home, and some tips to make storing and serving easier.

Background of the Dish

Miguelitos, also known as Spanish cream puffs, are relatively recent in the world of Andalusian pastry.

They were created in the middle of the 20th century when a famous Spanish cook had leftover puff pastry and didn’t know what to do with it.

The pastry chef ended up doing a twist on the typical French cream puffs, to give it the Spanish stamp.

Originally it was vanilla cream, but today there are hundreds of fillings such as chocolate, strawberry with whipped cream, or dulce de leche.

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Things You’ll Need for Spanish Cream Puffs

To make the miguelitos you only need a couple of ingredients.

The Spanish cream recipe is recommended to be homemade (we’ll teach you the step-by-step), but you could buy it or use another filling (we’ll talk about that later).

Also, you do not need sophisticated equipment for these treats from Spain. A piping bag is enough, but you can even replace it with a spoon and that’s it.

Ingredients

• 2 sheets of puff pastry
• 2 1/2 cups (600ml) milk
• 1 egg
• 5 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (60 g) cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Vanilla essence or extract (to taste, replaceable with another flavoring)
• Powdered sugar (to decorate)

How to Make Spanish Cream Puffs – Step by Step Guide

1. The first step in this Miguelito recipe is to preheat the oven to 180°C. If you have the setting of heat up and down available then activate it (no worries if you can’t).

2. Now cut the puff pastry into squares and place them on a baking tray with parchment paper. It’s best if you use storebought puff pastry (the star of this recipe is the cream), but if you’re up for it you can make it homemade.

3. Then put the tray in and bake the Spanish sweets for 30 minutes.

4. In the meantime, prepare the custard cream for the Miguelito dessert. In the stove over medium heat, heat the milk with vanilla essence or your favorite flavoring. Add the butter to melt and heat until steaming (but not boiling). While the milk is heating, mix the egg yolks with the sugar until it dissolves.

5. After that, let the milk warm a bit, and add the egg mixture with the cornstarch. It has to be lukewarm so that the yolks don’t cook with the heat.

6. Once everything is mixed, take it to the stove over medium heat and mix until thickens.

7. Let it cool in the fridge, you can cover it with plastic wrap or transfer it to a bowl.

8. When the cream and puff pastry are cold, you can assemble the miguelitos. Cut the puff pastry in half and put a layer of cream on the base (one of the halves) with the help of a pastry bag to be neater.

9. Then, place the other half of the puff pastry as if it were a lid. 

10. For the final step, dust some powdered sugar on top of the cream-filled pastries as decoration.

Substitution of Ingredients

You can innovate with the ingredients of your Spanish custard dessert. You could make homemade puff pastry, although it is time-consuming, expensive and a pain in the ass.

You can play with the flavorings in your custard cream. At this point, several Hispanic desserts can inspire you.

For example, you can take inspiration from the Spanish pumpkin flan cake and make a custard filling flavored with pumpkin.

You can also be inspired by leche frita or crema Catalana for the sugar topping.

Instead of dusting powdered sugar, you can put granulated sugar and burn it with a kitchen torch or in the oven to make a thick caramel crust.

Or to make them even fancier, spread a thin layer of whipped cream on top and make the edges of the Spanish cream puffs perfectly straight.

And of course, you must try the absolute best Natillas de leche, the easy Spanish custard dessert or the custard-filled pan de leche.

Tips on Serving Spanish Cream Puffs

You can serve these Spanish cream puffs for breakfast, an afternoon snack, or even dessert.

Although other Spanish dessert recipes are perhaps quicker to make (like the Spanish flan recipe), these Spanish cream puffs have the advantage of combining two textures.

To give this recipe more Spanish flavors you can cut or slice some almonds and put them inside the miguelitos.

Being already a square shape and relatively small, these popular Spanish desserts can be immediately put on the plate when you finish making the entire recipe.

Have you heard of a sweet Spanish almond soup? In case you didn’t, it is a must-try dessert soup made with almond paste and milk and flavored with cinnamon and lemon.

How to Store Spanish Cream Puffs

Within the Spanish desserts, these Spanish cream puffs have fewer storage options.

You should keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days. You cannot leave them at room temperature because the custard filling can rot.

You can’t freeze them either as it would take on a weird texture. However, it is a recipe designed to be made and eaten on the day or within the same week.

If you are looking for a dessert or sweet dish that can be frozen, then try Spanish sugar cookies or the Spanish almond cookies.

Recipe Card: Spanish Cream Puffs

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