Profiteroles

4.96 (16)
⏱ 70 mins 🍽 Serves 48 🏷 Sweet

These delightful profiteroles feature light and crisp pastry balls, which are hollow inside and perfect for filling. You can fill them with a smooth vanilla custard, whipped cream, or even ice cream before finishing with a glossy dark chocolate sauce. They make an impressive yet straightforward dessert option for any occasion, yielding about 48 pieces. The total preparation and baking time is around 70 minutes.

Profiteroles

Ingredients

  • 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup flour (, plain / all purpose)
  • 4 large eggs (55 - 60g / 2 oz each (weight with shell), at room temperature)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Vanilla custard (Creme Patissiere) ((below))
  • Ice cream ((Note 1))
  • Whipped cream ((Note 2))
  • 4 egg yolks ((Note 5 for using leftover whites))
  • 1/4 cup white sugar (, caster / superfine)
  • 3 1/2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
  • 2 1/3 cups milk (, full fat best)
  • 1/4 cup extra white sugar (, caster / superfine)
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste ((or extract or essence))
  • 250g / 8 oz dark chocolate ((or US semi-sweet))
  • 1 cup cream

Method

  1. Place the butter in a saucepan and melt it over the stove. Once mostly liquid, pour in the water and bring the mixture to a rapid simmer.
  2. While the liquid is simmering, add the flour and a pinch of salt. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon while still on the heat until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the pan sides, about 1 minute.
  3. Take the saucepan off the heat and allow the dough to cool for 10 minutes.
  4. Heat your oven to 220°C/420°F (200°C fan).
  5. Lightly butter two large or three standard baking trays, then line them with paper. The butter helps prevent the paper from sliding.
  6. Beat one egg into the cooled dough until fully incorporated. Add the remaining eggs one at a time, ensuring each is combined before adding the next, until you have a thick paste.
  7. Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a 13 - 15mm round tip.
  8. Pipe small blobs, about 2 teaspoons each, onto the prepared trays, spacing them 5cm/2" apart. You should get 40 - 50 blobs.
  9. Dampen a finger with water and gently pat down any pointed peaks on the blobs to form smooth domes.
  10. Bake two trays at a time for 15 minutes, swapping their positions in the oven halfway through.
  11. Take the trays from the oven and reduce the temperature to 180°C/35°0F (160°C fan). The pastries should be crisp. if they feel soft, return them to the oven for 3 minutes.
  12. Pierce each ball with a knife and bake for a further 5 - 7 minutes until golden and crisp.
  13. Transfer the profiteroles to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, fill them with custard, cream, or ice cream, drizzle with chocolate sauce, and serve.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sodium29 mg

Recipe details

CategorySweet