Puff Pastry Cream Horns

If you love those light flaky cream horns loaded with creamy goodness on the inside, you’re going to flip over this recipe. It’s easy and delicious and starts with a package of store-bought puff pastry.

What are Cream Horns?

A cream horn–which happens to be one of my favorite childhood treats–is a flaky pastry dessert made from puff pastry dough that’s rolled into a cone shape, baked until golden and crispy, and then filled with a sweet, creamy filling.

I know, I know! It’s sounds complicated, but I promise. . .this recipe is not.

I should start by telling you that you’ll either need metal cream horn molds or sugar cones wrapped in foil. I actually took the time to order my horn molds from amazon in advance so I would have them handy. You’ll probably want/need to do the same. 

Enjoy the Process!

To make this Puff pastry cream horns recipe you’ll start with puff pastry (in this case, store-bought) which is wrapped around a cone-shaped mold (or horn mold) before baking. This results in a hollow space inside.

Once baked and cooled, the pastry is filled with cream, which can be sweetened whipped cream, custard, or pastry cream. Cream horns are often topped with powdered sugar and can also have the ends dipped in chocolate or rolled in crushed nuts for added flavor and texture. I left mine plain, but later made a batch of chocolate cream horns, which I dipped in melted chocolate. More about that later!

Puff Pastry Ingredients

You will find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here’s a look at what you’ll need. These are such simple ingredients!

• 1 package puff pastry
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 small package instant vanilla pudding (or flavor of your choice)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar for sprinkling (optional)

How to Make Homemade Cream Horns

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Roll out puff pastry.

Use a pizza cutter to cut strips. You’ll want them to be close to an inch wide for easier rolling. (Ask me how I know.) 

Roll pastry around the mold, slightly overlapping as you see in this picture. Depending on how you roll them you’ll end up with 6-8 horns. 

Use a damp pastry brush to stick the end of the dough together if you need. 

Lightly brush with heavy cream. 

Place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

Remove and place on wire rack to cool. Do not attempt to remove cones. 

While they’re cooling make your filling: 

Place two cups heavy cream in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment. 

Add instant pudding in the flavor of your choice. You might want to start with half of the package or maybe 2/3. I added the full box and my cream turned out pretty thick. 

Whip until it comes together but do not over-mix. 

Place in fridge to cool. 

Once full cooled, place in a piping bag with a 1M tip (or tip of your choice). If you’re not ready to pipe right away put the bag in the refrigerator. 

After about 20 minutes or so, remove horns from their molds. You’ll want to make sure they’re 100% cool. Gently wiggle them out of the molds. 

Allow the horns to continue to cool. 

Fill the horns with filling. I did this from both ends, filling to the halfway point. I wanted a pretty indentation on each end. You can fill yours however you like. 

Optional: sprinkle with powdered sugar 

Serve and enjoy!

What to Expect from this Recipe

I’m going to label this one “Puff pastry recipes for beginners” because it’s just so, so easy!

If you love cream filled pastry this one is really going to thrill and delight you! The crunchy but light, sweet exterior. The creamy vanilla filling. Delicious! I love using this stabilized whipped cream filling but you can really use anything. Try substituting a cup of marshmallow fluff in place of the pudding if you want a lighter texture. Or, if you’re really feeling adventurous, make my marshmallow buttercream. Delicious! If you’ve been wondering how to make puff pastry cream horns at home. . .now you know!

Variations on this Easy Cream Horns Recipe

If you want to make these during the holidays, consider these options: 

• Add pumpkin puree to the whipped cream filling and sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon. (Yum!) 
• For Christmas, dip one end of the horns in melted chocolate (before filling) and dip in crushed peppermints. Use York Peppermint pudding mix in place of vanilla. 
• For Valentine’s use a strawberry cream pudding mix or add finely chopped strawberries to the filling. 
• Looking for a cheesecake variety? Use my cheesecake mousse or Marshmallow Buttercream as a filling. There are a host of Cream horn filling ideas, if you put your imagination to work!

Really, the options are endless!

That’s it for this post, friends!

I hope you enjoyed this delicious Puff pastry dessert recipe. 

If you make this recipe and love it, don’t forget to leave a review and a comment below. And while you’re at it, go ahead and pin some photos to your Pinterest boards!

About the Author

Janice Thompson is an author, baker, and all-around mischief maker! She has overcome a host of baking catastrophes, including a toppled wedding cake, to learn more about the baking process. Janice has published over 165 books for the Christian market but particularly enjoys writing recipes and baking devotions. To learn more about Janice or to drop her a note, visit her About the Author page.