This French pastry is traditionally served plain, or with a chocolate ganache topping but we also love them with a sticky and sweet toffee, a coffee and caramel version as well as a crushed berries and cream option. Try one or try them all.
Coffee ice-cream and caramel
Custard and toffee
Cream filling and chocolate sauce
Crushed berries and cream
Ingredients
Cream filling & chocolate sauce
Custard & toffee
Coffee ice-cream & caramel
Crushed berries & cream
Method
Profiteroles
1.Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly grease two oven trays.
2.Combine the water, butter and sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat until butter has melted. Bring to the boil.
3.Add flour; beat with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes or until mixture comes away from the base of pan. Transfer pastry to a small bowl of an electric mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until smooth and glossy.
4.Drop 16 level tablespoons of mixture onto trays, 5cm apart.
5.Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce oven to 180°C; bake a further 10 minutes or until golden and firm. Cool in oven with door ajar.
6.Split profiteroles with a sharp knife. Fill each with a scoop of ice-cream. Dust profiteroles with icing sugar, if you like.
Cream filling & chocolate sauce
7.Make Profiteroles.
Chop 100g (3oz) each dark and milk chocolate. Place in a small saucepan with ½ cup thickened (heavy) cream; stir over low heat until just smooth. Whisk 1 cup each mascarpone and thickened cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons icing sugar to soft peaks. Fill profiteroles with cream; drizzle with sauce.
Custard & toffee
8.Make Profiteroles.
Beat 250g (8oz) mascarpone with ½ cup ready-made dairy custard until thick. Fill profiteroles with custard; place on a foil-covered tray. Stir 1 cup caster sugar and ½ cup water in a saucepan over medium heat, without boiling, until dissolved; boil without stirring until golden. Drizzle profiteroles with toffee. (Take care as toffee is very hot.)
Coffee ice-cream & caramel
9.Make Profiteroles using coffee or caramel ice-cream for vanilla and folding in 1½ cups (225g) chopped vienna (candied) almonds. Stir 380g (12oz) canned caramel top ‘n’ fill in a small saucepan over medium heat with 2 tablespoons each rum and water until smooth and a drizzling consistency. Serve profiteroles drizzled with warm rum-caramel sauce.
Crushed berries & cream
10.Make Profiteroles.
Combine 150g (4½oz) raspberries and 2 tablespoons icing sugar; mash with a fork until soft. Add the softened ice-cream; fold together. Fill split profiteroles with a scoop of ice-cream; freeze. Stir ½ cup each berry jam and pomegranate juice in a saucepan for 3 minutes or until thickened. Serve profiteroles drizzled with syrup.
Make the profiterole mixture ahead of time, pipe it out and freeze on trays then seal the uncooked mounds in freezer bags. Thaw on trays and bake as for fresh.
Note
