Nun's puffs (also known less

euphemistically A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

as nun's farts) are a

dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be accordingly called pastry dough for clarity. Sweetened pastries are often descr ...

originally from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where they were known as . They are now also produced in

French Canada Francophone Canadians or French-speaking Canadians are citizens of Canada who speak French, and sometimes refers only to those who speak it as their first language. In 2021, 10,669,575 people in Canada or 29.2% of the total population spoke Fren ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Description

The recipe is included in an 1856 "cook book" and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

's ''Household Encyclopedia'' from 1859. The dessert is made from

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

, and sometimes

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

. Recipes call for

pan fry Pan frying or pan-frying is a form of frying food characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying), typically using just enough to lubricate the pan. In the case of a greasy food such as bacon, n ...

ing (traditionally in

lard Lard is a Quasi-solid, semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering (animal products), rendering the adipose tissue, fatty tissue of a domestic pig, pig.

), re-frying and then

baking Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but it can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot Baking stone, stones. Bread is the most commonly baked item, but many other types of food can also be baked. Heat is ...

, or baking straight away. The best-established recipes suggest cooking the butter, milk, and flour in a pan, then adding the eggs (whites last) and sprinkling sugar on the mixture before baking. Choux paste is also cooked twice, to prepare the paste and to "transform it into puffs". It dates to

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times and is a cross between a batter and a

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

. A cream filling can also be inserted.Mrs. C. M. Crawfor
Houston Civic Club cook book
Authors Houston Civic Club (Houston, Tex.), Publisher s.n., 1906 Original from the New York Public Library Digitized Jul 22, 2008 128 pages The dessert has been described as "light tender morsels" that are "heavenly".Tricia Lanin
New cook book
Edition 12, illustrated Meredith Books, 2005 pages 639 Better Homes and Gardens page 126 Another description describes them as a "

cream puff A profiterole (), ''chou à la crème'' (), also known alternatively as a cream puff (US), is a filled French choux pastry ball with a typically sweet and moist filling of whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, or ice cream. The puffs may be emb ...

batter that bakes like a

popover A popover is a light American pastry made from an egg batter similar to that of Yorkshire pudding, typically baked in muffin tins or dedicated popover pans, which have straight-walled sides rather than angled. Popovers may be served either ...

". Recipes for nun's puffs are also included in two

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

cookbooks.Mary Stuart Smit
Virginia cookery-book
(from a South Carolina lady) Compiled by Mary Stuart Smith Harper, 1912 Original from Harvard University Digitized Jun 29, 2007 352 pages page 29

Etymology

The similarly named French-Canadian dessert ''

pets de sœurs Nun's farts (''Pets de sœur'' in French), is a French Canadian dessert that is made from pie dough; often from left over Tourtière dough, that is layered with butter, brown sugar, then rolled, sliced, placed in a pan, covered with additional b ...

'' (literally "farts of eligioussisters") is sometimes confused with this dessert, but is actually a completely different pastry. The lightness of

deep fried Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow frying used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. Norm ...

beignet Beignet ( , also , ; ) is a type of deep-fried pastry of French origin. It is commonly made from choux pastry, pâte à choux, but can also be made using rice flour (rice beignets) or yeast-leavened batters. Beignets can be served in a variety o ...

s is said to have inspired the French name (literally "nun's farts").Harold McGe

On food and cooking: the science and lore of the kitchen page 552 The French Wikipedia identifies an earlier term for the dessert, ("nun's peace"), which is pronounced the same as ' and likely is the origin of the later term. The origin of the English name "nun's puffs" is said to be a mystery. A certain butter mixture is called "nun's butter", made with butter, sugar, wine, and

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...

. Nun's farts are one of several foods that reference the church; others include nun's sighs,

Religieuse A religieuse () is a French pastry made of a small choux pastry case stacked on top of a larger one, both filled with , commonly flavoured with chocolate or mocha. Each case is topped with a ganache of the same flavour as the filling, then at ...

(pastry), La religieuse (the cheese crust that forms at the bottom of a fondue pot),

cappuccino Cappuccino (, ; from German ) is an espresso-based coffee drink traditionally prepared with steamed milk, including a layer of milk foam. Variations of the drink involve the use of cream instead of milk, using non-dairy milk substitutes ...

angel food cake Angel food cake, or angel cake, is a type of sponge cake made with egg whites, flour, and sugar. A whipping agent, such as cream of tartar, is commonly added. It differs from other cakes because it uses no butter. Its aerated texture comes from ...

, cardinal

mousse A mousse (, ; ) is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savory. as early ...

, hermit's food, twelfth-night cake, scripture cake,

Christmas cake Christmas cake is a type of cake, often fruitcake, served at Christmas time in many countries. British variations Christmas cake is an English tradition that began as plum porridge. A traditional English Christmas cake is made with moist Zan ...

, Quaker cake,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

pudding Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...

Jésuite A Jésuite is a triangular, flaky pastry filled with frangipane cream and topped with sliced almonds and powdered sugar. The pastry originated in France and the name refers to the triangular shape of a Jesuit's hat. A similarly-named sweet pastry ...

, and

devil's food cake Devil's food cake is a moist, rich chocolate layer cake. Because of differing recipes and changing ingredient availability over the 20th century, it is difficult to precisely qualify what distinguishes devil's food from the more standard chocol ...

.Lucy Maynard Salmon, Nicholas Adams, Bonnie G. Smith Editors Nicholas Adams, Bonnie G. Smith
The family cookbook (1923)
History and the texture of modern life: selected essays Edition illustrated University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001 , Length 276 pages page 66

Description

Etymology

See also

References

Further reading