These Pumpkin Tiramisu Cream Puffs are brushed with espresso and marsala wine, filled with spiced pumpkin mascarpone mousse, then dusted with cocoa powder!
Preheat oven to 400° F. Line baking sheet with parchment or silpats (see note) and set aside.
Combine water, milk, sugar, salt, and butter in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. While still on the heat, add the flour. Quickly beat mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth and shiny. Mixture will pull away from the sides of the pan. (Do not underbeat or cream puffs may deflate later!)
Once mixture is thoroughly combined, scrape it into the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn the mixer on low speed. With mixer running, add eggs one a time, allowing each egg to incorporate and mixture to become smooth before adding the next.
Transfer batter to a pastry bag and cut a hole in the end (about ⅓" across). Pipe mounds of choux pastry at least 2" apart, each about 2" across and ¾" tall (see notes). With those dimensions, you get about 24 cream puffs.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and turn the oven off. Bake 10 minutes with the oven off. Turn oven back on to 350° F and bake another 10 minutes. Then, turn the oven off again, leaving the cream puffs to finish baking for another 10 minutes (This is 30 minutes in the oven total). Resist the urge to open the oven until baking is complete, as this could deflate your cream puffs!
Once the cream puffs are baked, remove from the oven and poke a hole in the top of each with a toothpick. This will allow any residual steam to escape (otherwise, your cream puffs could deflate...sensing a trend here?). Allow cream puffs to cool completely.
For Filling:
In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese and pumpkin. Stir to combine.
Add sugar and spices (cinnamon, ginger, and cloves). Stir to combine. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cold cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla bean paste (see note). Using the whisk attachment, whip to soft peaks.
Add the whipped cream to the pumpkin mixture in two additions, carefully folding them together so as not to deflate the whipped cream. Continue folding until completely combined. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag, if desired.
For Assembly:
Split the cooled the cream puffs with a thin, serrated knife.
In a small bowl, combine the marsala wine and espresso powder (see note) and stir to combine. Brush the inside of each cream puff with the espresso/marsala wine mixture (see note).
Pipe the filling into the bottom of each of the cream puffs (or just dollop that goodness in with a spoon!).
Place the tops of the cream puffs on the filling, then dust with the cocoa powder.Enjoy!
Notes
Notes on piping choux pastry: Choux mounds should be at least 2" apart on the baking sheet. If they're too close together, the steam that escapes while baking could cause them to deflate.I give a suggested dimension for the mounds (2" across by ¾" tall), but it's more important that they're all uniform in size rather than meeting these specific dimensions. Just be aware that bigger choux mounds will take more time to bake, and smaller ones will be done sooner.When piping the choux, I found that if you hold the bag straight up and stay in the center as you squeeze the piping bag, you end up with a more uniform (round) shape.Note on silpats: I prefer using a slipat over lining my baking sheets with parchment paper, since they help reduce the amount of browning on the bottoms of the cream puffs, and I can reuse them. If you’re interested in getting one or two for yourself, you can find them here.Note on vanilla bean paste: It's no secret that I love vanilla bean paste. It's soooo tasty without the vanilla bean price tag (and it pretty much stays good forever). If you prefer to substitute, you could use 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. If you'd like to get some vanilla bean paste and you can't find it in your local grocery store (I never can), you can find some here.Note on espresso powder: I've found it difficult to find espresso powder--especially one that isn't already hard as a rock--at my local grocery store. I use King Arthur Flour's brand (link here), as it's very fine and made specifically for baked goods.Note on assembly: Any cream puff will get soggy if you make it too far in advance. This is extra true for these, given that they are brushed with the espresso/marsala wine mixture before being filled. Brush the mixture on sparingly (it has a strong flavor, so you don't need much!), and fill the cream puffs as closely to serving time as you can!