Perfect dessert for your holidays: heavenly delicious puffs filled with rich custard cream, piled up and drizzled with chocolate sauce. This recipe will surely make a big impression at your holiday dinner table
These irresistible profiteroles will surely make a big impression on your holiday table!
Profiteroles are light and airy puffs (also called bigne' in Italy) made from choux pastry, traditionally filled with Italian pastry cream (crema pasticciera), and drizzled with chocolate sauce.
Profiteroles are similar to the classic French croquembouche. But rather than having chocolate all around the puffs, in the croquembouche, the puffs are served as a neat tower covered in crunchy caramel.
I'm sure you have seen it before: a cone-shaped big tower of cream puffs, all drizzled and kept together by the hard caramel. As the word "croquembouche" suggests, these puffs are a "crunch in the mouth".
Profiteroles are similar to the classic French croquembouche. But rather than having chocolate all around the puffs, in the croquembouche, the puffs are served as a neat tower covered in crunchy caramel.
I'm sure you have seen it before: a cone-shaped big tower of cream puffs, all drizzled and kept together by the hard caramel. As the word "croquembouche" suggests, these puffs are a "crunch in the mouth".
The secret to making the best choux pastry for the puffs is the use of high-quality European butter. For this recipe, I’m using the best of all: rich and golden French butter which adds a remarkable layer of flavor to the pastry
100% natural, with a higher fat content, this butter is the perfect choice to create light and airy, puffy, and slightly crispy profiteroles.
Make sure to check out @TasteEuropeButterofFrance and their website, tasteeurope.com, for store locator, recipes, and to learn more. In stores, you can find it in the dairy aisle marked “Product of/Imported from France” on the packaging!
This recipe for profiteroles is not a hard recipe BUT it does require several steps and some patience.
First of all, you need to prepare the cream puffs, and make sure they are properly baked. If not, they deflate once they are out of the oven. Still good, but not as pretty!
Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool for a few minutes.
The second thing: you need to make the custard cream. You can't go wrong with this recipe. I made it with cornstarch, not flour, and it tastes delicious. It's thick and rich, with a pudding-like texture. Amazing with the puffs!
Many steps I know! But trust me: every bite of this dessert is worth the effort!
NOTES: The puffs can be make in advance. You can easily store in an air-tight container. And so can the cream: it can be made the day before and stored in the refrigerator.
First of all, you need to prepare the cream puffs, and make sure they are properly baked. If not, they deflate once they are out of the oven. Still good, but not as pretty!
The choux pastry doesn't use any baking powder or yeast. What makes them puff up is the volume of water in the batter with evaporates into steam when in the oven. 
Start by melting the butter in the water with a bit of sugar (optional - but I like a little sweetness to it) and salt. Add the flour and cook until the mixture starts to detach from the edges of the pan.
Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool for a few minutes.
This is an important step: you don't want the hot mixture to cook the eggs. So let it cool off a bit and then add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly in between. You can do this by hand, with a hand mixer or a stand-up mixer. Make it nice and smooth.
Place the choux pastry in a piping pastry bag, with a large round tip (or simply cut the tip of the bag) and pipe it into little dollops on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
To make a round top, wet one or two fingers with water and pat down the peaks with your wet finger.
To bake: make sure to preheat the oven and bake for about 30 minutes on a baking sheet. At the end, turn off the oven, open the door slightly and let the puff cool down with the low heat for at least 5 minutes. This will make the outer part lightly crispy and less likely for the puffs to deflate.
To make a round top, wet one or two fingers with water and pat down the peaks with your wet finger.
To bake: make sure to preheat the oven and bake for about 30 minutes on a baking sheet. At the end, turn off the oven, open the door slightly and let the puff cool down with the low heat for at least 5 minutes. This will make the outer part lightly crispy and less likely for the puffs to deflate.
Once the cream is cold and refrigerated, and the puffs are at room temperature, all that is left is to fill the puffs and stack a few on top of each other. Drizzle with your favorite chocolate sauce and enjoy!
Many steps I know! But trust me: every bite of this dessert is worth the effort!
NOTES: The puffs can be make in advance. You can easily store in an air-tight container. And so can the cream: it can be made the day before and stored in the refrigerator.
Fill the puffs before serving, and if possible, drizzle with hot chocolate sauce. The combination of cold cream and hot sauce is a match made in heaven!
Oh yes 🙌
ReplyDeleteSounds lovely, so I’m going to try these with gluten free flour. Love your recipes. X
ReplyDelete