Rich and creamy, this chocolate cream donut filling makes for decadent pastries fit for a donut shop. It’s a slightly thicker version of a chocolate cream pastry and is sturdy enough to hold up inside a donut.
Picture this for your weekend brunch: Freshly fried, pillowy donuts, coated in crusty sugar, and inside a luscious pocket of this velvety-smooth chocolate cream donut filling.
This recipe for chocolate donut filling is creamy, with the perfect level of sweetness to balance the intensity of the chocolate. It’s essentially a chocolate pastry cream (also called creme patissiere). I opted to make it slightly thicker so that it holds up well in the donuts.
I recommend using this recipe for yeast donuts as the base donut recipe. You could also make a double batch of sourdough donuts, but they aren’t quite as light in texture. Still delicious, just not as easily filled.
And you can get creative with the ways you prepare your donuts! After frying them, you can dip them in sugar, or glaze them. When it comes to the filling, sticking with chocolate is great, but adding a thread of jam could elevate the experience and add so much flavor!
Other Donut Recipes You May Enjoy
There are so many ways you can be creative with donuts, especially since there are so many different varieties. For filled donuts, try blueberries and cream or apple pie donuts. Maybe opt for an old-fashioned, like pumpkin spice donuts, almond poppyseed, or blueberry old-fashioned. Even fritters are considered a type of donut, and you can make peach or apple fritters!
You can make the filling up to three days before filling your donuts with it. Cover it with a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the chocolate cream to prevent a dry skin from forming on top. Store it in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it.
Ingredients
- Milk
- Cream
- Sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Bittersweet Chocolate (70% is great–don’t go much lighter)
- Egg + Egg Yolks
- Cornstarch
- Salt
- Butter
Let’s Talk Chocolate
The chocolate flavor is (obviously) the star of the show here. But a lot of the chocolate flavor- its intensity, sweetness, and darkness- is yours to decide. It comes from both cocoa powder (not Dutch process) and chopped chocolate, which is added after the cream is cooked.
For a lighter chocolate flavor, use 1/2 cup of sugar and regular cocoa powder rather than dark. Don’t add milk chocolate, since it has added milk that can mess up the texture of the pastry cream.
For a rich, dark pastry cream, use dark cocoa powder, 70% chocolate, and 1/3 cup of sugar. This is how I prefer it, and I loved how the rich darkness of the cream filling contrasts with the pillowy sweetness of the donuts.
Tools Needed to Make the Donut Filling
- A Saucepan that’s at least 2 quarts. The thicker the bottom the better, since it’ll distribute the heat more evenly.
- A wire whisk is the best way to stir the chocolate filling so it won’t scorch during cooking.
- Measuring spoons and cups or a baking scale for measuring out your ingredients. Use a liquid ingredients measuring cup for the milk and cream.
- You’ll need a fine mesh sieve to run the filling through after it has cooked. This gives you a perfectly smooth finished product.
- Mixing Bowls for various steps of the recipe.
How to Make Chocolate Cream Donut Filling
Preparing to Cook the Chocolate Cream Filling
It’ll be helpful to take a few steps before you begin making the chocolate filling. Because it can scorch easily, having everything prepped ahead of time lessens the risk of burnt or curdled cream.
Pour the cream and milk into a medium saucepan. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and the butter into cubes. Place a fine mesh sieve over a mixing bowl to strain the pastry cream through.
Making the Filling
In a small mixing bowl, mix the egg, egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt until they are a smooth paste. If the mixture is too thick, add a few tablespoons of the milk until it’s a stirrable consistency.
Heat the milk and cream until they are steaming but not boiling. Slowly ladle the hot milk into the bowl with the egg yolks while stirring. This brings up the temperature of the eggs without them cooking too quickly and is a process called tempering.
Once you’ve added about 1/3 to 1/2 of the milk, pour all of the mixture back into the saucepan. Place the pan on a burner over medium-low heat and cook it, stirring constantly so that the mixture doesn’t curdle or scorch. If you feel like it’s cooking too quickly, turn the heat down.
Continue to stir and whisk the pastry cream until it begins to bubble. At that point, continue stirring vigorously while cooking for one more minute.
Remove the pastry cream from the heat and immediately pour it through the fine mesh sieve to remove any lump or bits of cooked eggs.
Immediately add the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla bean paste or extract. Stir until they are all melted and completely mixed in. The filling should be perfectly creamy and velvety smooth.
Pour the filling into a container with an airtight lid and place a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto it. Refrigerate it until it’s completely cooled. At this point, it’s ready to use in your donuts and will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. The cream will continue to thicken as it chills.
Filling the Donuts
Once the chocolate cream filling has cooled, you can fill your donuts. Fry the donuts, and immediately dip them in the sugar. If you are going to glaze them, allow the donuts to cool before glazing, then fill them.
Once the donuts have cooled completely, they are ready for the chocolate filling. Using a thin knife or a skewer, poke a hole in the side of each donut. Move it around back and forth a little bit so there’s a pocket inside without creating a very large opening.
Cut the tip off of a pastry bag and insert a round or star pastry tip. Fold back the top of a bag and use a large spoon to fill the bag with the chocolate filling. You can also place the bag in a glass to hold it while you fill it.
Note: If you don’t have pastry bags or tips, you can also use a zippered bag and cut a corner off it. It will be messier and harder to control, but can definitely work!
Place the tip of the bag into the hole on the side of each donut. Squeeze in filling until you feel the donut growing heavy in your hand and start to feel some resistance. Then remove the bag and repeat until all of the donuts are filled.
Refrigerate the donuts until you’re serving them. If they are completely chilled, set them out for about 30 minutes to come to room temperature before eating.
Recipe Notes, Tips, and FAQs
You should always keep the cream filling in the refrigerator. If it sits out, the eggs and dairy in it will spoil.
If you want to fill the donuts before serving, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Let them sit out for at least 30 minutes to allow the donut to come to room temperature, or it could feel dry and tough when you bite into it.
However, he best option is to leave the donuts unfilled at room temperature, then fill them with cold chocolate cream just before serving. The refrigerator dries out baked goods, and the donuts will stay fresher longer if they’re stored at room temp.
If it’s stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, your filling should keep for up to five days.
- If you prefer to glaze your donuts rather than dipping them in sugar, do that step before filling. You can find the recipe for donut glaze here.
Chocolate Cream Donut Filling
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: Filling for about 12-16 donuts
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3–1/2 cup (66–100 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (28 grams) cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons (12 grams) regular or dark cocoa powder, not Dutch process
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 2 tablespoons (14 grams) butter
- 4 oz. (1/2 cup) chopped dark chocolate
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Preparing to Cook the Chocolate Cream Filling
Pour the cream and milk into a medium saucepan. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and the butter into cubes. Place a fine mesh sieve over a mixing bowl to strain the pastry cream through.
Making the Filling
In a small mixing bowl, mix the egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt until they are a smooth paste. If the mixture is too thick, add a few tablespoons of the milk mixture until it’s a stirrable consistency.
Heat the milk and cream until they are steaming but not boiling. Slowly ladle the hot milk into the bowl with the egg yolks while stirring. This brings up the temperature of the eggs without them cooking too quickly, and is a process called tempering.
Once you’ve added about 1/3 to 1/2 of the milk, pour all of the mixture back into the saucepan. Place the pan on a burner over medium-low heat and cook it, stirring constantly so that the mixture doesn’t curdle or scorch. If you feel like it’s cooking too quickly, turn the heat down.
Continue to stir and whisk the pastry cream until it begins to bubble. At that point, continue stirring vigorously while cooking for one more minute.
Remove the pastry cream from the heat and immediately pour it through the fine mesh sieve to remove any lump or bits of cooked eggs.
Immediately add the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla bean paste or extract. Stir until they are all melted and completely mixed in. The filling should be perfectly creamy and velvety smooth.
Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the pastry cream and refrigerate it until it’s completely cooled. At this point, it’s ready to use in your donuts and will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Filling the Donuts
Once the chocolate cream filling has cooled, you can fill your donuts. Fry the donuts, and immediately dip them in the sugar. If you are going to glaze them, allow the donuts to cool before glazing, then fill them.
Once the donuts have cooled completely, they are ready for the chocolate filling. Using a thin knife or a skewer, poke a hole in the side of each donut. Move it around back and forth a little bit so there’s a pocket inside without creating a very large opening.
Cut the tip off of a pastry bag and insert a round or star pastry tip. Fold back the top of a bag and use a large spoon to fill the bag with the chocolate filling. You can also place the bag in a glass to hold it while you fill it.
Note: If you don’t have pastry bags or tips, you can also use a zippered bag and cut a corner off it. It will be messier and harder to control, but can definitely work!
Place the tip of the bag into the hole on the side of each donut. Squeeze in filling until you feel the donut growing heavy in your hand and start to feel some resistance. Then remove the bag and repeat until all of the donuts are filled.
Refrigerate the donuts until you’re serving them. If they are completely chilled, set them out for about 30 minutes to come to room temperature before eating.
Notes
- This is my favorite donut recipe. The donuts turn out amazingly soft and tender but are sturdy enough to hold up to a filling like this one.
- If you want to dip the donuts in sugar, be sure to do so immediately after removing them from the frying pan. Both the heat and the oil on the outside help the sugar stick to them really well.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
