Profiteroles Recipe

This classic profiteroles recipe is all about contrasts: crisp golden pastry shells filled with cool vanilla ice cream and finished with a cascade of warm chocolate sauce. It’s the kind of dessert that feels special enough for Christmas or New Year’s Eve, yet simple enough to make ahead and pull together on a weeknight when you want something elegant without the fuss. 

Profiteroles Recipe
Makes 24 profiteroles (serves 8)

Ingredients

FOR SHELLS
½ cup of flour (60g)
¼ tsp of salt (6 g)
1 tbsp sugar (30g)
4 tbsp butter (57g)
½ cup of water (120 ml)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
12 oz bag of dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate chopped (340 g)
3/4 cup (177ml) heavy cream
1 Tablespoon (15ml) strong coffee or espresso
1 tbsp honey (15 ml)
2 tsp of vanilla (10 ml)

FILLING:
Ice Cream of Choice

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 400°F (200 °C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix together the dry ingredients. Set aside.

Place butter and water in a large sauce pot and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat, and stir in your flour mixture with a wooden spoon and “cook” the flour with the residual heat for 1-minute and until it pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.

Allow to cool slightly, and then quickly whisk in the eggs, one at a time, allowing each one to fully incorporate before adding the next one. The dough will be sticky and paste-like.

Transfer the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a round 1/2-inch (13mm) tip. Pipe out nine rounds 1 1/4 inch (33mm) in diameter.

Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes. Then, reduce the oven to 350°F (175 °C) and bake for 15 minutes more to bake and dry out the interiors.

Once golden brown and puffed, turn the oven off, open the door, create 1/2″ (13mm) incisions in the side of each puff (where you will eventually slice it in half), and allow to cool this way for at least 15 minutes.

To make the chocolate sauce, melt the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate and heavy cream in a sauce pot, whisking to combine. Once the chocolate has melted and the sauce is smooth, then add the coffee, honey and vanilla.

To toast the almonds, place them in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat, swirling them around the pan for a few minutes until they are nicely toasted. Keep covered at room temperature until ready to serve. To serve, slice pastry shells in half, fill with one small scoop of vanilla ice cream, and top with chocolate sauce and toasted almonds.

MAKE AHEAD NOTES:

How long does the chocolate sauce keep?
The chocolate sauce should be placed in the refrigerator in an airtight container and will last for 3-5 days. Reheat gently in a saucepan or microwave in 30-second intervals (stirring in between) until pourable.

How long can I make the shells ahead and freeze them?
You can bake and cool the choux pastry shells at least a week ahead of time. Allow them to cool completely. Then slice them in half, but keep them together, like a clam shell. This will make it easier to match up the tops and the bottoms when you slice it all the way off for serving. Store them in a resealable freezer bag and place them in the freezer. When you’re ready to serve, warm empty shells in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 5-10 minutes, assemble and serve immediately.

If you want to wow a crowd this holiday season, 
then you can’t go wrong with my perfidal recipe. Add your flour, sugar, a little bit of salt. 
Whisk that up until combined. Then in a pot, add some butter, some water. Bring it to a boil. 
Then add back in that flour mixture. And this is where patissue pastry can go wrong. You really 
want to make sure that you cook that flour for about a minute. The ball should form and pull 
away from the side. Then you’ll add two eggs one at a time. You do want to make sure that 
those eggs get nicely incorporated. For this, I wouldn’t really use a wooden spoon. See how 
slimy it gets? You’re better off with a wire whisk. Then take a/2 in pastry tip and fit it into 
a bag and stabilize it around a glass or a pitcher just so it’s held up right. Transfer that sticky 
dough. And now you are ready to pipe. You want to pipe quarter size mounds. And I liked having 
a little knife standing by because I think it helps it release from the pastry bag. And then 
you’re going to tamp down the tips with a cold spoon and some cold water. And then you see how 
nice that is? That’s going to round our little mound to create nicely shaped pastry shells. Then 
pop this in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for just about 15 minutes. Then you can make 
the chocolate sauce, which is just heavy cream and chopped bittersweet chocolate. Heat that on 
medium high until it starts to melt and become this luxurious looking chocolate sauce. Then add 
some strong coffee to deepen the flavor. Some vanilla extract and some honey. That will give 
it a really nice gooey texture. At this stage, it’ll look like your pastry shells are done, but 
they actually need to bake at a lower temperature, 350 Fahrenheit, for another 15 to 20 minutes, 
just so that they dry out inside and become a lot more stable. Let them cool in the oven, but 
create just a little incision halfway up to let the steam escape and then keep the door open a jar 
for about another 15 minutes. Then to assemble, you will just slice them in half like that. Use a 
mini ice cream scoop to fill them with vanilla ice cream. Because they’re small, I usually give two 
to three per person as a portion. And then drizzle that gooey bittersweet chocolate sauce on top. I 
also like to add some toasted almonds on top for a little bit of crunch. They also look pretty, too. 
Check the recipe in the caption that will tell you all about how to make this dessert ahead of time. 
And all you have to do is assemble and serve. Yum.