Profiteroles or Cream Puffs are traditional French Dessert. A choux pastry ball filled with pastry cream or whipped cream, decorated with melted chocolate or powdered sugar.
Mardi Gras is Tuesday March 4th and it is very popular in countries around the world to celebrate with pastry of some sort. Here in Scandinavia Choux Pastry is popular, often made into large balls and cut in the middle with visable filling.
What I like about the profiterole, is that they are bite size, and fill your mouth with flavour and texture in just one bite.
This time I made my profiteroles with a liquorice filling – partly to try something new and partly because I LOVE black liquorice. So for those of you not fond of the anise flavour, make a raspberry whipped cream or go for classic pastry cream with a splash of liqueur.
Last year I made these French Éclairs – A very similar recipe, but not completely the same.
There are not a lot of ingredients, but the list of ‘how to’ steps is quite long. But don’t let that stop you, read it through before you begin and measure all the ingredients before you start baking, and you will be just fine!
You can easily store Profiteroles. You can freeze the dough balls before you bake them for up to 1 month or you can keep them unfilled in an airtight container for days and then simply throw them in the oven for 5 minutes to have them crisp up right before you fill them.
I do not recommend storing the profiteroles filled for a long time, they quickly become soggy that way.
Recipe: French Profiterole with Liquorice Filling
Ingredients
- 2.5 dl (1 cup) Water
- 125 g (1 stick) Butter
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 140 g (1 cup) Flour
- 4 Eggs
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (375°F)
- Combine water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan, place over low heat, and stir as butter melts (make sure it is low heat, you do not want the water to evaporate before the butter melts). When the butter has melted turn the heat on high and bring to a boil.
- Remove the pan of heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir for about 1 minute
- Place the pan back on medium heat and stir rapidly for 1 minute or until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a ball. The dough should be glossy and little wet
- Transfer the dough to your stand mixer and mix on low with the paddle tool for 30 sek
- Then start adding the eggs, one at a time and make sure they are well incorporated.
- When all the eggs are added Increase the power to medium and beat for 30 seconds
- Put the dough in a pastry bag and let cool to room temp before piping out 2.5 cm (1 inch) balls onto a parchment-paper covered baking sheet. If the balls form a top, dip your finger in water and lightly smooth them out
- Spray the profiteroles with water and as soon you place them in the oven decrease the temperature to 180°C (350°F)
- Bake for 20 minutes. Then take them out and cut a tiny hole in all of them with a sharp knife. Place back into the oven and bake for 5 more minutes
Liquorice Filling
3 dl (1 cup +3 tbsp) Whole Milk
3 egg yolks
0.5 dl sugar
1 tbsp Flour
2.5 tbsp Cornstarch
2 tbsp Liquorice syrup or powder
2 dl (0.5 cup + 3tbsp) Heavy Cream
1. In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until it is just hot enough to steam. If you are using liquorice powder you should dissolve it in the milk.
2. While the milk is warming, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flour, and cornstarch until the mixture is completely smooth
3. Temper the eggs by adding a little bit of the warm milk and whisk constantly. Add little at a time until you have added half of the milk
4. Then pour the eggs/milk mix into the pan with the remaining hot milk and heat over medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture is very thick
5. Remove from heat and stir in Liquorice syrup (or the alcohol if you are using a liqueur)
6. Chill the pastry cream
7. Whip the cream until soft peaks form then mix together with the now cold pastry cream
8. Put the filling into a pastry bag with a 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) tip and poke a whole in the profiteroles and gently fill them with the cream
