I’ve never been to France. I’m told that the patisseries are worth the trip alone – and the centerpiece d’ resistance – is the cream puff, eclair or profiterole. Three names for the same dessert – but made into three different shapes. My favorite has to be the profiterole. The tiny cream puff, filled with a pastry cream and topped with a chocolate glaze. If you follow my philosophy – wanting to eat a bit of everything – including the foods many think are unhealthy – this tasty morsel is the size to do it with.
Use the best ingrediants you can find with this dish. Fresh eggs and milk. Chocolate is ethereal if you use Callebaut semisweet chunks – I found mine at a grocery store’s bulk food section – getting the best chocolate for less then the packaged cheap stuff !
You will need a kitchen aid mixer here. A baking sheet with either a silicone mat or some parchment. A ping-pong sized scooper will ensure you have consistently sized profiteroles. A basting brush or small kitchen towel will help to apply the egg wash. A wire baking rack. A small paring knife is critical to ensuring the puffs dry out nicely when cooling. A sports cooler filled with ice and water will serve as an ice bath – although your kitchen sink will work too.
Making these is really not too hard, but there are three steps : making and baking the pate’ a choux, making the cream and filling, and glazing with chocolate. A few little extra steps help make sure things turn out great. Try it. It’s not a hard as you think.
Step 1: Pate a Choux
This a a dough made of milk, butter, eggs and flour.
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 stick of unsalted butter (Land o’ Lakes is a good brand to use)
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 3 to 4 pinches of salt (1/2 teaspoon)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Mix the milk, butter sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat – bring to a boil. Take a mesh strainer and sift the flour. Add the flour all at once to the milk mixture. Cook stiring constantly. The dough should form a ball and cleanly seperate from the sides of the saucepan. Keep stiring until this happens – then continue for another minute. While you stir – preheat the oven to 400 F.
Transfer to the workbowl of the mixer. Blend with a paddle attachment for 3-4 minutes – it should be cool enough to touch – around 100 degrees farenheit. Add three (leaving one for the egg wash) eggs, one at a time, letting it mix throughoutly each time. Add in the egg white. Your dough is ready.
I use a scooper to make ping-pong ball sized balls on a parchment topped baking sheet. Take the remaining egg and water and beat. Use this egg mixture as a egg wash – brushing each ball with the mixture. This is an imporant step. Bake for 15-17 minutes – they should puff up nicely – and become a golden yellow color. Once that happens – lower the temp – to 300 – and let them dry out and continue to carmelize to a golden brown color – about 15-20 minutes.
Remove immediately onto a wire cooling rack. Take a paring knife and gently push it into one of the cracks in the puff. Turn the knife 1/3 turn to leave a slight hole. This allows moisture to escape and prevent soggy puffs. This is another critical step.
Step 2: Pastry Cream
- 1/3 cup corn starch
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 3/4 cups milk
- 4 egg yolks
- pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted better (land o’ lakes brand is best here)
Mix cornstarch, 1/4 cup sugar and cream in mixer work bowl. Mix the yolks with a fork, then slowly add them to the mixture on low speed. This mixture should be completely smooth before continuing.
Mix milk, remaining sugar and salt in a sauce pan on medium high heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Let cool a bit. Then temper the mix – following the process outlined next very closely. Take 1/4 of hot milk mixture and wisk it vigourously into the egg-cream mixture. Slowly add the remaining milk mixture to the egg-cream mixture. Put over low heat and wisk like a happy dog wags it’s tail – fast and with considerable motion. The mixture will slowly come to a boil – you might add heat if your don’t get to that point in 7-10 monutes. The test to see if the cream is done – is take a spoon and stir it – then lift the spoon out. If you can run your finger along the back of the spoon a leave a trail – it’s done. Put the mixture immediately into an ice bath. Cover it with a little saram wrap to prevent drying.
After 40 minutes of cooling – take the cream and put into a ziploc bag. Evacuate all the air you can before sealing. Put in the fridge.
Fill the puffs by cutting the lower corner of the ziploc bag by 1/2 a centimeter. The bag will allow you to squeeze the cream into the little hole you made in the puffs – until the void is mostly full of cream.
Step 3: Chocolate glazing
- 4 ounces of bitter sweet chocolate (Callebaut works best)
- 1 shot of espresso or 1/8 cup of strongly brewed coffee
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 1/4 cream
Combine cream, corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate and coffee. Let rest 3-4 minutes. Stir to complete a smooth and melted sauce.
Dip the top 1/3 of the puffs into the chocolate mixture. Let cool on the wire rack and set.
