Profiteroles W/ Creme Patissiere
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 24
 
Ingredients
  • **For the Creme Patissiere**
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 40g cornflour
  • 500ml milk
  • 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways, or 1tsp vanilla extract
  • 40g unsalted butter
  • **For the Choux Pastry**
  • 220ml water
  • 80g unsalted butter
  • Pinch of salt
  • Generous pinch of sugar
  • 125g plain flour
  • 220g beaten egg
  • **For the topping**
  • 100g dark chocolate
Instructions
  1. **For the Creme Pat**
  2. Start by making the creme pat so it has a chance to cool.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the colour has gone pale.
  4. Sieve in the cornflour and keep whisking until there are no lumps left.
  5. Heat the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat until just before it boils.
  6. Pour half of the milk into the egg & sugar mixture, whisking continuously. Keep whisking until it's well incorporated.
  7. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk and return to a medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Keep whisking until it's bubbling gently and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take around 3-4 minutes.
  8. Remove from the heat and keep whisking for another minute. Then stir through the butter until it's melted and incorporated. If you used a vanilla pod as well, this is the time to take it out.
  9. Pour into a bowl, covering the surface itself with cling film, and leave to cool. If you need it quickly, you can do this in a baking tray with the creme pat spread out. (SEE NOTES for storage instructions)
  10. **Make the Choux Pastry**
  11. Preheat the oven to 220°C(200°C fan assisted) and butter two baking trays then place them in the fridge until you need them.
  12. In a medium saucepan, gently heat the water, butter, salt and sugar until just boiling and the butter has melted.
  13. Keeping the pan over the heat, add the flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the paste is smooth and comes away from the sides. Make sure you're constantly moving it to stop it from catching.
  14. Decant into a cold bowl, and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
  15. Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, and incorporate well. This can take a little while, the mixture can potentially look split at first, but it will eventually come together. You need to get the paste to 'dropping' consistency; i.e. if you scoop up a large amount, it should drop back into the bowl within about 5 seconds.
  16. Transfer to a large piping bag with a 2cm hole.
  17. Pipe the pastry into 4cm blobs on the prepared baking sheets.
  18. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, until they are golden brown and they've puffed up.
  19. Remove from the oven, and once they've cooled enough to touch, poke a small hole in the bottom. This will stop them from collapsing and also give you a hole to pipe into.
  20. Pipe creme pat into each profiterole.
  21. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water, and drizzle over the profiteroles to finish.
Recipe by The Bearded Bakery at http://www.thebeardedbakery.com/baking/pastry/patisserie/chocolate-profiteroles-w-optional-creme-patissiere/