Profiteroles
User Reviews
5
Profiteroles
Description
The Profiteroles recipe starts with a choux pastry dough made by simmering butter and water, stirring in flour until a cohesive dough forms, then incorporating eggs one at a time to achieve a thick paste texture. The dough is piped into small blobs and baked at high heat in two stages to create hollow, crisp pastry shells. Common fillings include vanilla custard (Crème Pâtissière), whipped cream, or ice cream, which provide rich and creamy contrasts to the light pastry.
The chocolate sauce is a ganache made from dark chocolate and cream, warm and pourable at serving temperature, then setting to a soft fudge-like texture as it cools. Together, these components assemble into profiteroles that are crisp outside and soft, creamy inside, presenting a classic French pastry experience suitable for dessert or special occasions.
For the best texture, profiteroles are served freshly made to maintain crispness of the shell. The pastry can be made ahead and reheated briefly to re-crisp before filling. The custard filling keeps well refrigerated longer than whipped cream fillings. The recipe also includes tips for storage, reheating, and preparation of filling and ganache to optimize ease and result quality.
Ingredients
Choux Pastry (profiterole pastry balls):
- 100g / 7 tbsp butter unsalted
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup flour , plain / all purpose
- 4 egg 55 - 60g / 2 oz each (weight with shell), at room temperature, large
- Pinch salt
Filling Options (choose one):
- vanilla custard below, Creme Patissiere
- Ice cream (Note 1)
- Whipped Cream (Note 2)
Thick Custard Filling (Creme Patissiere):
- 4 egg Note 5 for using leftover whites, yolk
- 1/4 cup white sugar , caster / superfine
- 3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch or cornflour
- 2 1/3 cups milk , full fat best
- 1/4 cup white sugar caster / superfine, extra
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract or essence)
Chocolate Sauce (Note 3):
- 250g / 8 oz dark chocolate (or US semi-sweet)
- 1 cup cream
Instructions
- Simmer butter & water: Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When mostly melted, add water then bring to a rapid simmer.
- Add flour: While liquid is simmering, add flour and pinch of salt, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon (still on stove) until the dough forms sort of a ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan (see video). About 1 minute.
- Cool: Remove from heat and let mixture cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 220°C/420°F (200°C fan).
- Prepare trays: Lightly grease 2 large or 3 standard baking trays with butter, then line with paper. (Grease stops paper sliding)
- Add egg into cool dough: Add 1 egg into batter, beat until combined. Add remaining eggs one at a time making sure each is combined before adding the next. Dough should be like a thick paste (see video).
- Transfer to piping bag: Place dough into a piping bag fitted with a 13 - 15mm round tip (1/2 - 3/5").
- Pipe blobs: Pipe 2 tsp blobs 5cm/2" apart (I do 16 on each tray). Makes 40 - 50 blobs.
- Pat down peak: Wet your finger with water and pat down any peaks to form domes (for nice round balls).
- Bake 2 trays at a time for 15 minutes, switching the trays halfway.
- Remove from oven, reduce heat to 180°C/35°0F (160°C fan). They should be crispy enough that when pierced, they will not collapse - if not, return to oven for 3 minutes.
- Pierce balls with knife then return to oven for 5 - 7 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Cool & fill: Transfer to rack, cool fully before filling with custard, cream or split then fill with ice cream. Drizzle with chocolate and serve!
Chocolate topping:
- Place cream and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 4 x 30 seconds, stirring in between, until incorporated. Cool to warm, then use for drizzling or dipping.
Custard filling:
- Whisk yolks and sugar, then whisk in cornflour.
- Place milk, vanilla and extra sugar in a saucepan over medium high. Heat until just before simmering.
- Whisk in 1/4 cup hot milk into egg mixture. Whisk in another 1/4 cup. Then add remaining milk mixture and whisk.
- Pour back into saucepan. Return to stove on medium low (low for strong stoves). Whisk constantly 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture thicks to a thick dolloping custard consistency.
- Remove from heat immediately, pour into bowl. Press cling wrap onto surface (stops skin forming) then refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours until set. Do not whisk again once set (loses thickness).
- Spoon into piping bag fitting with a very fine nozzle. Then pipe into profiteroles (use the hole pierced during bake, or make a new hole).
Notes
- For ice cream filling, split hot profiteroles, fill with ice cream, replace lids, and drizzle with warm chocolate sauce.
- Whipped cream filling involves whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until firm peaks form; pipe or dollop inside profiteroles before topping with chocolate sauce.
- Chocolate sauce is a ganache that is runny warm but sets to a fudge-like consistency when cooled.
- To maintain crispness, reheat pastry in a hot oven for a few minutes before filling and serving.
- Filled profiteroles are best enjoyed soon after assembly; custard-filled ones store better up to 24-36 hours than cream-filled.
- Cooked, unfilled pastry shells can be stored airtight for 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months; re-crisp by reheating in oven.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 48Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 101 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 101cal | 5% |
| Carbohydrates | 8g | 3% |
| Protein | 1g | 2% |
| Fat | 6g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat | 3g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 42mg | 14% |
| Sodium | 29mg | 1% |
| Potassium | 60mg | 1% |
| Sugar | 4g | 8% |
| Vitamin A | 180IU | 4% |
| Vitamin C | 0.1mg | 0% |
| Calcium | 26mg | 3% |
| Iron | 0.6mg | 3% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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