Homemade Profiteroles with Vanilla Pastry cream
Calories: 172kcal
Adjust Servings Here: 18 servings
Description
These classic French dessert profiteroles are made with choux pastry that is light as air. And, they are filled with vanilla pastry cream and finished with a chocolate glaze.
Ingredients
Choux pastry dough
- ½ cup (120 ml) Water
- ½ cup (120 ml) Milk
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
- ½ cup (113 g) Butter unsalted, room temperature
- 1 cup (1 cups) All-purpose flour
- 4 Eggs large (you may need 3 ½ to 4)
Pastry cream (Creme Pattissiere)
- 4 Egg yolks
- ½ cup (100 g) Castor sugar
- 6 tablespoon Cornstarch
- ¾ cup (180 ml) Whipping cream 32% plus
- 1 cup (240 ml) Milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla bean paste
Chocolate glaze
- 4 oz (100 g) Chocolate semi-sweet or dark
- 2 tablespoon Butter unsalted, room temperature,
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Whipping cream 32% plus
Egg wash
- 1 Egg
- 2 tablespoon Water
Instructions
Pastry cream (Creme Pattissiere)
- In a heavy-bottom 3 qt small saucepan, combine the egg yolks and sugar followed by the cornstarch, salt, and vanilla extract. Then, add the cream and milk.Pro tip - use a whisk to ensure there are no lumps.
- Place it on medium heat and stir continuously until thick and creamy. Pro tip - it is important that the pastry cream is thick and coats the back of a spoon
- Strain the pastry cream in a bowl through a sieve. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely to room temperature. Then, place it in the fridge to chill for a few hours (4 hours or overnight) Pro tip - making sure the plastic touches the top surface of the cream to prevent skin from forming.
- When cooled, use a whisk to smoothen the pastry cream. Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag with a round or a Bismark piping tip.
Choux pastry dough
- Preheat the oven at 375°F / 190°C/ Gas Mark 5
- Wet ingredients - In a large heavy-bottom 5 qt saucepan, over medium heat, add water, milk, salt, sugar, and butter. Bring to a boil then turn the heat to low.Pro tip - keep the heat to medium-low so all the liquid does not evaporate which could lead to excess dry flour.
- Dry ingredients - Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously for 30 to 60 seconds. Continue to cook on low for another 30 to 60 seconds or until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan Pro tip - the dough will be baked again so it does not need to be cooked. Avoid overcooking it.
- Cool dough - Remove from heat and transfer the dough to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes to room temperature.Pro tip - The dough needs to be cooled to at least barely warm otherwise it will cook the eggs.
- Egg mixture - Start the mixer on medium speed and add the eggs gradually. Stopping in between to ensure everything is well combined.Pro tip - You may or may not need all the eggs. What you are looking for is a dropping consistency batter as shown in the video.
- Pipe the choux pastry - Once you've reached the desired consistency transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a large round tip. Pipe large dots about 1 ½ inch wide and 1-inch tall Pro tip - Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with water. This creates steam and helps the pastry to rise.
- Flatten the tops - Dip your finger in water and press down the piped points so they don't burn (see video).
- Egg wash - Combine the egg with water to make an egg wash. Brush each surface of each profiterole with egg wash.
- Bake the choux pastry - Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly golden.
- Prick the pastry - Remove them out from the oven and prick each one on the bottom with a skewer. Place them back in the oven for 5 minutes Pro tip - Pricking the pastry will help them release steam and baking for the final 5 minutes will help dry them inside.
- Cool the pastry - Remove from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.Pro tip - these can be placed in an airtight container for 3 days and frozen for up to 3 months before filling.
Chocolate glaze/ chocolate ganache
- Combine chocolate, cream, and butter in a microwave bowl. Melt until all the chocolate has melted. Let cool until the chocolate ganache reaches a pouring consistency. Set aside. Pro tip - You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Alternatively, you can also serve these profiteroles with a warm chocolate sauce
Assemble
- Fill each profiterole from the bottom with the pastry cream using the hole created previously. Pro tip - Push the piping tip into the hole on the bottom of the profiterole. Squeeze and press the bag until it feels full. They will also feel heavy when full.
- Next, dip the top of each profiterole into the chocolate glaze as shown in the video. Alternatively, you can drizzle the chocolate over the profiteroles using a spoon.
- Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- Measure the ingredients correctly as it is critical to this recipe. If possible use weight measurement for the flour or use the spoon and level method. Often too much flour can be a cause of failed choux pastry.
- Cook the dough on low heat - high heat will evaporate all the liquid very quickly leaving behind dry flour.
- You want to cook the dough until it leaves the sides of the pan this means the flour has cooked. Another sign is that there will be a thin skin formed at the bottom of the pan.
- Let the choux pastry dough cool for a few minutes before you add the beaten eggs.
- Don't be tempted to add all the eggs into the dough. You want to pay attention to consistency as shown in the video. It should drop slowly from the spoon when lifted up.
- Do not forget to brush the baking tray and parchment paper with water. The water helps keep the parchment from moving but most importantly creates steam in the oven that helps these pastries rise beautifully. If you forget to brush with water you can also spray some water over the baking tray after they are piped.
- The piped choux balls do not need to be baked immediately. I like to do two trays at a time. If you live in a hot and humid climate you can even keep the unbaked piping choux pastry trays in the fridge.
- If you don't have a piping bag and tip you can use two teaspoons and drop little dough balls on the baking tray. Then shape them with wet fingers.
- NEVER open the oven dough for at least the first 25 minutes of baking or until they are golden.
- Let them release steam. At the last five minutes of baking take them out and prick them at the bottom with a skewer this prevents them from getting soggy or collapsing.
- The chocolate glaze or ganache needs to be thick so it coats evenly. Chocolate thickens as it cools so just give it time to reach the right consistency.
- Make-ahead choux pastry - the choux pastry balls can be made ahead of time. To make them crisp again I like to place them in the preheated oven 375F/190C/Gas Mark 5 for just 3 to 5 minutes.
- Filling for choux pastry - today we are using vanilla pastry cream or creme patisserie but you can also use whipped cream, stabilized whipped cream, cream cheese filling, tiramisu,
- Filled leftover profiteroles will keep in the fridge for up to a day or two. The filling will make them slightly softer but still delicious.
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Did you make this recipe? Share it with me.Tag @veenaazmanov on instagram or #hashtag it #veenaazmanov