Cream Puffs with Dark Chocolate Filling

INGREDIENTS:

Puffs:
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
4 eggs

Pudding:
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk (I used 1-1/2 cups 2% milk and 1-1/2 cups light cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, coarsely chopped

INSTRUCTIONS:

Puffs:

Preheat oven to 400. Bring water to a boil, melt margarine in boiling water. Once it is melted turn to low heat, add flour and salt and stir vigorously until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat, beat in eggs one at a time until mixture is smooth after each addition.

Place spoonfuls of batter on ungreased baking sheet, making 12 mounds. Bake at 400 for 45 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet to cooling racks to cool.

Pudding:

Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in the top part of a double boiler. Slowly whisk in the milk, mix well and use a spatula to scrape the bottom and ensure all dry ingredients are mixed in. Put over the bottom part of the boiler with gently simmering water. If you don't have a double boiler using two sauce pans one slightly smaller that will nest inside works just fine and this is what I did.

Stir frequently scraping the bottom and using the wisk to prevent lumps from forming. After approx 10 minutes the mixture will start to thicken up, when it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon add the chocolate and stir until it is all melted and the mixture appears dark and smooth.

Remove from heat and pour into a pan to cool - cover with saran wrap placed on the surface of the pudding to prevent a film from forming.

Cool for at least 30 minutes.

When puffs are cool and pudding has cooled it's time to assemble - it's best to only assemble the number you plan to serve as they don't keep well assembled. Cut the top 1/3 off the cream puff, spoon in the filling and then replace the top, sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate or top with whipped cream - lots of choices.