I was showing my kids what profiteroles were and let’s say they weren’t convinced it was good. Decided to proceed anyway as my mom was coming over and I know she likes that. If you are looking to silence 2 hyperactive kids for a couple of minutes, those worked really well here. Total silence. The first phrase afterward? Can I get another one? Note that while I’m making them with custard here, you can also fill them with whipped cream or ice cream. Traditionally, after you assemble them, you need to freeze them but yeah… time was of the essence and we needed to have them NOW.
You need:
custard
- 310ml milk
- 65g magic sugar ( regular sugar work too)
- 1 vanilla bean
- 4 egg yolks
- 10gr cornstarch
- 30gr butter ( cold & chopped in small cubes)
pate a choux
- 125gr water
- 100g flour
- 50g butter
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
Chocolate topping
- 120ml 35% cream
- 80g chocolate
Instructions
- We need to make the custard first, also note you can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for 48 hours ( taste does degrade and I encourage you to use it as fresh as possible). In a pot over medium heat, put the milk, the vanilla bean cut in half, bring to a boil. Once there remove from heat.
- In a bowl whip the yolks, cornstarch, and sugar, whip until you have a nice texture.
- Grab your milk pot, remove the vanilla bean, and slowly dump the mixture into the egg bowl while whisking. Put everything back into the pot we need to heat this again. While whisking over medium heat bring to a boil again. Let it boil for about 1 minute while whisking constantly.
- Remove from heat, add the butter and whisk until you have a nice consistency. Cover and put in the fridge for about an hour.
- PS: Prefer chocolate? Before adding the butter dump 80gr of chopped dark chocolate and whisk then pursue with the butter.
- Now let’s make the pate a choux. In a pot put the water, salt, and butter and bring to a boil. When there, remove from heat and add all the flour all once and mix until you have a nice consistent texture.
- You now need to “dry” it, you do so by putting it back on medium heat. Use a spatula to move it around in the pot, when it stops sticking to the wall, it’s ready. You can do the following step by hand but I don’t, so I transfer the ball in a standing mix bowl, put the leaf and start mixing on low and add 1 egg. When it’s incorporated, add the second one. When you have a nice texture remove the bowl from the standing mix and transfer it into a pastry bag
- Lay parchment paper on a baking tray and create some puff. Make sure they are at least 1″ apart. A tip is when you are done with the amount of pate you have put, stop pushing on the pastry bag and do a small 360 while lifting, it should make a nice look.
- Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until golden. Let them cool completely, cut them, and fill with creme patissière (custard).
- If you want to top these off with a chocolate sauce, chop the chocolate into pieces with a knife. In a pot bring to a near boil the cream. Dump the chocolate in and whisk until all combined. Wait till it’s cooled off before using.
