Classic French Profiteroles Recipes

PROFITEROLES

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the butter and salt until the butter has melted; remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the flour until no dry lumps remain; stir in the eggs, one at a time, adding the next egg only after the last one has been completely incorporated into the mixture. Drop the profiterole paste onto the prepared baking sheet in evenly spaced dollops.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pastries have puffed up and turned golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
• Beat 1 cup of heavy cream to soft peaks; stir in the confectioners' sugar and rosewater until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the remaining cup of heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted and smooth.
• To assemble, poke a hole into the bottom of each pastry and fill with the rose water cream. Place the filled profiteroles onto individual serving plates and top with the warm sauce. Leftover profiteroles may be stored sealed in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

CLASSIC FRENCH PROFITEROLES

Steps:

• Melt the Butter and set aside to cool down. In a small bowl, mix the Flour and Brown Sugar. Pour over the melted Butter and stir with a fork or a small spatula until completely combined.
• Place the dough between two sheets of baking paper and spread as thinly as possible with a rolling pin. Place on a flat tray and transfer in the fridge to set for about 30 minutes.
• Place the Water, Butter and Sugar in a medium size pot on medium heat and leave to heat up until the butter and sugar have melted.
• Away from the heat, drop in the Flour at once. Using a wooden spoon or stiff spatula, stir the batter until it starts to come together then place back on the stove over low heat. Keep stiring to dehydrate the pastry as much as possible (at least a couple of minutes) to remove as much moisture as possible until you see a thin film create at the bottom of the pan (see note 1).
• Transfer into a large clean bowl (or the bowl of your Stand Mixer) and leave to cool down for 10 to 15 minutes. The batter should be at room temperature (or at least not steaming hot).
• Beat the eggs together in a seperate bowl. Slowly start to add the mixed eggs into the batter, a little bit at the time. Mix well between each addition of eggs until they are fully incorporated, then add a little bit more eggs and repeat (it is easier to do this step with a Stand Mixer). The pastry should be fluid and shiny, not too liquid or too hard (see note 2).
• Preheat your oven on 180'C / 350'F and grease the bottom of a baking tray (wipe any excess of grease with a paper towel).
• Place the Choux Pastry in a piping bag with a large round nozzle. Pipe small mounds of pastry, leaving room between each choux as they will puff in the oven.
• Optional: Take the Craquelin out of the fridge. Use a small cookie cutter, about the size of each choux, to cut out the craquelin and place them over each choux.
• Put in the oven for 20 minutes or until puffed and golden, then open the oven door to let the steam out and directly re-close it. Leave them to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes - If they Choux are not baked enough, they will fall down once cold. Transfer the Choux on a cooling rack and leave to cool down completely.
• Finely chop the Dark Cooking Chocolate and place in a heat proof bowl.
• In a small pot, heat up the milk until it starts to boil then directly remove from the heat and pour over the chopped chocolate. Wait 30 seconds then stir with a spatula to melt the chocolate. Keep stiring until the chocolate is fully melted, shiny and glossy (see note 3)
• When ready to serve, slice each Choux in half. Place a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream on the bottom of each Choux and place the Choux lid back on. Re-heat the Chocolate Sauce to be fluid if needed then pour it over the Profiteroles. Serve straight away.

PROFITEROLES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
• Heat the water, sugar, salt, and butter in a small saucepan, stirring, until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat and dump in the flour all at once. Stir briskly until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
• Allow the dough to cool for 2 minutes, then briskly beat in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth and shiny.
• Using two spoons, scoop up a mound of dough roughly the size of an unshelled walnut with one spoon and scrape it off with the other spoon onto the baking sheet (or you can use a pastry bag or spring-loaded ice cream scoop). Place the mounds, evenly spaced, on the baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg yolk and milk together and brush the top of each mound with some of the egg yolk glaze.
• Bake the cream puffs for 30 minutes, or until puffed and well browned. Turn off the oven and leave them in for another 5 minutes.
• Storage
• The cream puffs are best eaten the same day they're made. Once cooled, they can be frozen in a zip-top freezer bag for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature, then warm briefly on a baking sheet in a moderate oven until crisp again.