Profiteroles
Crisp, hollow choux buns filled with lightly sweetened vanilla cream and covered in a warm, glossy dark chocolate sauce.
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 200°C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
- 2
Put the butter, water, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, bring it to a rolling boil.
- 3
Take the pan off the heat, tip in all the flour at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth paste.
- 4
Return the pan to low heat and keep beating until the dough forms a ball and leaves a thin film on the base of the pan.
- 5
Spread the dough out in a bowl and leave it to cool until just warm.
- 6
Beat in the egg a little at a time, beating well after each addition, until the dough is glossy and falls from the spoon in a thick V shape.
- 7
Spoon into the piping bag and pipe 24 mounds the size of a walnut onto the trays, spaced well apart. Smooth any peaks with a wet fingertip.
- 8
Bake without opening the oven until puffed, deep golden and crisp.
- 9
Poke a small hole in the base of each bun with a skewer and return them to the oven to dry out.
- 10
Cool the buns completely on a wire rack.
- 11
Whip the 400 ml cream with the icing sugar and vanilla until it just holds firm peaks, then pipe it into each bun through the hole.
- 12
For the sauce, heat the 150 ml cream and the golden syrup until steaming, then pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth.
- 13
Pile the profiteroles on a plate, pour over the warm sauce and serve straight away.
Notes
- Underbaked choux collapses as it cools. The buns should be a deep golden brown and feel light and hollow.
- Unfilled buns keep in an airtight tin for a day, or freeze for a month. Crisp them in a hot oven for 5 minutes before filling.
- Fill the buns no more than an hour or two before serving so they stay crisp.
Equipment
Medium saucepan, Wooden spoon, Two baking trays, Baking paper, Piping bag with 1 cm plain nozzle, Piping bag with small nozzle, Electric mixer, Heatproof bowl, Wire rack