Profiteroles are perfect bite sized desserts that look and taste amazing!
Serve them at any dinner party, gathering or just because you love profiteroles!
The choux pastry makes profiteroles light and airy, combined with the cream and chocolate – I challenge you to resist not eating the whole bowl of this French dessert!
How To Make Profiteroles
Profiteroles look and taste luxurious – yet they only require a few ingredients;
For the Choux Pastry
Eggs, butter, water and flour.
For the Filling
Cream – or some people prefer a different filling such as custard or even ice cream.
For the Topping
Chocolate sauce – either just melted chocolate drizzled on top, or, combine it with some melted butter, syrup and cream.
Making The Choux Pastry
In a saucepan, melt the butter and 150ml of water, over a gentle heat. Once it is all melted, bring it to a boil before removing it from the heat and tipping in the sieved flour.
Use a wooden spoon and beat it until a smooth ball is formed. You will need to leave it to cool for 10 minutes before adding the beaten eggs.
It’s really important to leave the dough to cool before adding the eggs otherwise they will begin to cook in the Choux pastry!
Beat the eggs in really well, a shiny paste that becomes stiff will begin to form.
For the next step you can either use a piping bag to pipe the dough onto the baking trays, or, if you don’t have one, you can use a teaspoon – roughly, they should be the size of a walnut.
Make sure they have enough space between them on the baking tray.
Place in a preheated oven 220C/200C fan/gas mark 7 and bake for 20 minutes.
They will have risen and be golden in colour when they are ready.
Take the baking trays out of the oven and pierce each one on the side – this allows the steam to escape before returning them to the oven for a further 2 minutes.
This second bake allows the them to cook and dry out on the inside and become deliciously crispy too.
The next step is best done just before serving the profiteroles.
If you want to prepare the profiteroles in advance they can be made up until this point and stored in an airtight container for 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
Filling The Profiteroles
For this recipe we have used cream, but you could also fill them with custard or ice cream.
Pour the double cream into a bowl with the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whip it until it is just peaking. Transfer it to a piping bag and after opening up the buns, fill them with the cream.
Making The Chocolate Topping
You can just melt some chocolate to pour over the top, or you can make up a slightly more creamy sauce, more like a chocolate ganache.
In a saucepan, pour the remaining double cream (100ml) and add the chocolate pieces, butter and syrup. Heat it on a low heat until it has melted. Pour the sauce over the profiteroles and serve straight away.
Profiteroles Recipe
Profiteroles are the perfect luxurious after dinner treat, or party dish. The question is, how many will you eat?!
Ingredients
Choux Pastry
- 50g unsalted butter
- 60g plain flour, sieved
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 150ml water
Cream Filling
- 300ml double cream
- 2tbsp icing sugar
- 1tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Topping
- 200g dark chocolate
- 25g butter
- 3tbsp golden syrup
- 100ml double cream
Instructions
Making The Choux Pastry
- Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas Mark 7.
- Add the water and butter to a saucepan and gently melt on a low heat. Once the butter is completely melted bring it to the boil before removing it from the heat.
- Add the sieved flour to the saucepan and beat it with a wooden spoon until a smooth form ball has formed.
- Leave it to cool for 10 minutes before slowly adding the beaten eggs, beating them into the dough very well as you do. As you continue to add the remaining egg and beat it, a smooth and stiff paste like mixture will form.
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag. If you don't have a piping bag use a teaspoon instead. Pipe/dollop about 2 teaspoons worth of the mixture onto a lined baking tray. Make sure you leave enough space between each one.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, They will be golden brown in colour and will have risen when they are ready.
- Pierce a hole in each one to allow the steam to escape before returning them to the oven for a further 2 minutes to crisp up.
- After removing them from the oven a second time, transfer them to a wire rack to cool down.
Making The Filling
- In a bowl add 300ml of double cream together with the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whip it up until it is just peaking.
- Transfer the cream mixture to a piping bag, or, if you don't have one, you can use a teaspoon.
- Slice the profiterole buns open and pipe/transfer the cream inside.
Making The Chocolate Topping
- Add 100ml of double cream to a saucepan, add in the broken up chocolate, butter and golden syrup.
- Heat gently until melted.
- Pour the sauce over the profiteroles when you are ready to serve the profiteroles.
Notes
Making ahead of time
You can make the Choux pastry profiterole shells ahead of time. Once they have baked and cooled store them in an airtight container for 2 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months.
Alternative Profiterole Fillings
Instead of cream you can fill the profiteroles with ice cream or fresh custard.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 271Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 40mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 12gProtein: 3g