This is a recipe I've always used & never had a flop yet. Got it from Craig Claiborne & posted it a while back for someone & they had good luck with it too. CREAM PUFF SHELLS (10 large puffs) 1 cup water 1/4 lb butter Pinch of salt 1 cup flour 4 eggs Preheat oven to 450°. Combine the water, butter & salt & bring to a boil. Remove from the heat & add the flour all at once. Stir vigorously until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan & forms a ball around the spoon. If a ball does not form almost immediately, hold the saucepan over low heat & beat briskly a few seconds. Cool slightly. Add the eggs, 1 at a time & beat until the mixture is smooth & glossy after each addition. Drop the mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet, leaving 2" between the puffs to permit spreading. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° & bake until no bubbles of fat remain on the surface & the sides of the puffs feel rigid, about 30 minutes longer. Cool. Cut a cap off each puff & fill with pastry cream. (I use whipped cream.) Replace the cap.~~ PASTRY CREAM (about 3 cups) 1/3 cup sugar 3 1/2 TBL cornstarch or 6 TBL flour 6 lightly beaten egg yolks 2 cups milk 1 tsp vanilla Mix sugar, cornstarch & yolks in a saucepan. Scald the milk & pour it gradually over the egg yolk mixture, stirring rapidly with a wire whisk. Cook over low heat or in the top of a double boiler, stirring rapidly with the whisk, until the mixture is thickened & smooth. Do not allow to boil. Cool & stir in the vanilla.~~

In the middle of this recipe you'll find the recipe for Dulce de Leche cream filling.....oh my, over the top delicious! Dulce De Leche Cream Puffs With Frangelico And Hazelnuts Puffs 1 c water 1/2 c unsalted butter 1/2 t salt 1 c AP flour 4 cold eggs 1/2 c chopped hazelnuts Filling 3/4 c dulce de leche at room temp 2 1/4 c 18% cream 4 T sugar,divided pinch salt 3 T AP flour 3 egg yolks 2 T Frangelico 1/2 t vanilla Sauce 3/4 c dulce de leche at room temp 2 T Frangelico 1/2 t vanilla 1/4 c chopped hazelnuts (optional) Preheat oven to 425. Place rack just below oven centre. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Heat water, butter and salt in a sauce pan over medium heat until water is quite hot and butter melts. Add flour and stir frequently for 3 to 5 minutes, or until mixture easily forms large smooth ball. Place ball in bowl of mixer , break up by mixing briefly with paddle. Cool 5 minutes then beat in eggs 1 at a time on low to medium speed until well mixed. Using a spatula fold in hazelnuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inces apart on the prepared pan. Using wet hands shape into 2 inch rounds leaving the tops somewhat rough. Bake 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake another 25 minutes or until deeply golden. Turn off oven and open door, Let puffs cool in the oven for 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. (can be nade weeks ahead and frozen. To restore crispness reheat in a 350 oven for 10 minutes or until puffs feel dry and crisp) To make filling whisk room temp DDL (dulce de leche) while gradually adding cream until smooth. Stir in 2 TBSP sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat whisking occasionally. Meanwhile in a small bowl stir remaining 2 TBSP of sugar with flour, stir in egg yolks and Frangelico. When cream is quite hot to the touch stir 3 TBSP into the egg mixture to temper the egg mixture. Whisking briskly, pour egg mixture into hot cream. Stir constantly 3 minutes or until mixture thickens, becomes glossy and whisk leaves a trail in the filling. Stir in vanilla. Tuen into a metal bowl. Cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the cream surface. Refrigerate immediately. Use when cold. Keeps 2 to 3 days. To make sauce, stir DDL in a small bowl until smooth. Stir in Frangelico 1 TBSP at a time. Stir in vanilla. Sauce can be made ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temp or heat until barley warm to serve. To assemble puffs. Cut each puff in half horizontally, Divide filling among bottom halves. Replace tops. Serve drizzled with the sauce and scattered with hazelnuts. Makes 12. Dulce de Leche 2 to 4 cans sweetened condensed milk (300 ml each) Preheat oven to 425 Remove labels and tops from cans. Cover each can with foil , pressing firmly about 1/2 way down outside of can. Place in a large flat bottom casserole dish. Pour boiling water into dish until 1/2 inch from the tops of the cans. Cover with casserole lid. Bake for 2 hours without disturbing except to check to see if you need to add water. Add more water if level drops dramatically. After 2 hours lift cans from water bath. Cool on a rack with foil still in place. The refregerate for up to a week or freeze. Cold DDL is very thick so bring to room temp before stirring. Each can makes 1 1/4 cup DDL.

You don't mention the recipe you used, but here's a good recipe w/info; you may find the answer within: Lucy Perfect Cream Puffs 1 cup water 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup bread flour* 3 large eggs, beaten 2 egg whites * Bread flour is a high-protein flour. The high protein gives you more gluten and structure and helps the cream puffs rise. All-purpose flour may be substituted but the results won't be as spectacular. ** The egg whites help the cream puffs to be more dry. Preheat oven to 420 degrees F. Either line a baking sheet with parchment paper or with the non-stick baking mat. NOTE: Do not grease baking sheet, as the grease will cause the dough to flatten. Cut up butter into small pieces. In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the water and butter; bring mixture to a full rolling boil (make sure the butter has all melted). Remove pan from the heat and add flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until blended. NOTE: The flour absorbs the liquid rapidly, and must be mixed thoroughly until there are no lumps left. Reduce heat to medium; return pan to heat and continue stirring until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat and transfer the dough to the bowl of a mixer. With the paddle attachment, mix at low speed until the dough has cooled slightly. It should be about 140 degrees F. (use your digital thermometer to test the dough). In a small bowl, add eggs and egg whites; Whisk until mixed together. At medium speed, beat the eggs/egg whites in a little at a time. Add no more than a quarter of the eggs at once; wait until eggs are completely absorbed before adding more (at first the eggs will act like they don't want to mix in, but they will). When all the eggs are absorbed, the dough is ready to use. The dough should be soft and a little sticky, but be able to hold its shape. Using two teaspoons: With one spoon, scoop up about 2 tablespoons batter for a large puff, 1 tablespoons for a medium-size puff, or 1 1/2 teaspoons for a cocktail-size puff. With other spoon, push batter off first spoon and drop in a mound onto prepared baking sheet. Place mounds about 2 inches apart. Using plastic bag: Place dough into bag. Cut the end off one corner with scissors, to make an opening about 1/4 inch. Squeeze the mixture onto the pans. Using pastry bag: Put a 1/4-inch star tip into your pastry bag. Fill the bag with the dough. Squeeze the dough out in a circle motion to create small silver dollar-sized circles. NOTE: to smooth out any parts that stick up when you squeeze out the dough, just wet your finger in water or milk and smooth out. You can also glaze the puffs with a beaten egg wash to give it a shine. In this case use a pastry brush to smooth out the top as you glaze it. Bake time varies depending on how big your blobs are. For 2-inch puffs, bake for a total of about 20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through (switch pans so the top one is on the bottom rack and vice versa). At 1 minutes into the baking, lower heat to 375 degrees F. and continue baking until golden brown. Approximately 5 to 10 minutes longer for the small puffs, and 15 to 20 minutes longer for large puffs. Remove from the oven and immediately prick the lower side of each puff with the tips of a sharp know. Turn off oven and return puffs to the oven. Leave the door open slightly and allow the puffs to dry out for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and oven and let puffs cool completely on the baking sheet on a wire rack before filling. For best results, use puffs with 24 hours, or wrap airtight and freeze. NOTE: Unfilled puffs may be stored in an airtight container for several days, but first cut them open and remove the strands of dough to prevent sogginess. To freeze unfilled cream puffs, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or resealable plastic bags. Do not cut cream puffs open or remove the strands of dough before freezing. Thaw at room temperature. Do not add the filling until just prior to serving, otherwise the puffs will become soggy. Cream puffs may be filled with your favorite pudding, whipped cream, ice cream, or fruit. When ready to fill, with a serrated knife, cut upper third from each puff and gently scoop out any moist interior. Fill with pastry cream or ice cream; recap with the top, dust with a little powdered sugar and drizzle with chocolate sauce if desired. Keep in a cool place until serving time, but not in the refrigerator. Makes about 2 dozen large puffs, 3 dozen medium-sized puffs, to 5 to 6 dozen cocktail-size puffs.

Thanks everyone! Those were pretty fun to make. The puffs were a bit soft (wanted to keep the pale swan color) in the beginning and thanks for Linda and Barnmom's advice I dried them a bit in the oven and they firmed up without getting too brown. Alexa, I baked the necks for somewhere between 3 - 6 minutes. Each batch was difference. Strange isn't it. But I did have to keep an eye on them. Once they began to brown they REALLY brown! Rachelellen, yeah the number was a bit odd LOL. I will have to make them smaller next time to fit in more! I have tried different ways to do the red color but didn't seem to get a hang of it. I used red food coloring with cream cheese but it turned out PINK! So I used red sprinkles but the acid of the cream was what turned the red sugar into orange. I sent hubby to the store to get some red and green fruit roll-ups (to make scarfs for the swans) but he had never seen them and came home empty handed. Poor man! LOL