This Is the One Dessert You Must Check Out in Wisconsin

Wandering through the throng of people, trying to ignore the August humidity, a slightly sweet aroma suddenly hits. The scintillating scents of the Original Cream Puffs Pavilion are calling. The combination of fresh, crispy pastry and sweet cream is too tantalizing to ignore. That's how easily the iconic cream puff at the Wisconsin State Fair overtakes me and over 400,000 other people. These all too tasty treats have tempted the crowds at the fair for well over a century, making them the most iconic image of the Wisconsin State Fair.

According to former Wisconsin State Fair Park communications director Kristin Chuckel, the state fair's love affair with cream puffs began in 1924 because of a fortuitous partnership to promote the state's dairy industry. She told the Shepherd Express in 2017 that, at the time, then-Governor John Blaine asked food inspector Charles Kremer to concoct something for the fair. Kremer's family owned a bakery, so he came up with a recipe for the cream puff, which is almost identical to the one still used today. Save for the 2024 Wisconsin State Fair, when they featured specialty flavors for the big occasion.

Since well over 30,000 cream puffs are eaten each day of the fair, making them is an all-day undertaking. In addition to enjoying the all-too-sweet air conditioning in the pavilion, guests can also watch as the staff creates sugary magic. Witnessing swirls of sweet whipped cream being slathered between two fresh halves of a pastry puff is enough to get anyone's stomach rumbling.

In my experience, the line in the pavilion is often the longest. I can't blame anyone for wanting to escape the August heat. While you may get your puffs faster at one of the to-go stands, I highly recommend at least going by way of the pavilion for your first cream puff. After 100 years of hyping them up, it feels like a time-honored Wisconsin tradition to see how the sweets are made.

It's a tradition I deeply miss since moving away from Wisconsin. Though I'm only 90 minutes away from Milwaukee here in Chicago, nothing beats dairy eats from my home state. You may have had cream puffs before, even homemade ones, but I have yet to try any filled pastry anywhere in the world that surpasses the irresistible flavor profile of a Wisconsin State Fair cream puff.

These sweets make the state fair special to me. I've happily gone there almost for the sole purpose of eating a cream puff. That isn't to say there aren't other attractions you won't want to miss at the fair; it just indicates how amazing these desserts are. That's as close to a summer festival as I tend to get. While it isn't technically a festival in the City of Festivals, its location just outside of Milwaukee in West Allis should be enough for Milwaukeeans to brag about. At the very least, they can brag about the astronomical number of cream puffs people eat every single summer.