French pastries are some of the finest pastries in the world. Although most of these delicacies take special care and knowledge to undertake, puffed pastries such as éclairs and profiteroles are made with choux (pronounced "shoo") paste which are delights that even the cook at home can attempt with great success.
Choux paste, often called choux pastry, is a unique form of pastry. It is based on flour, water, butter, egg, and lots of beating.
Unlike other pastries, it is not flaky and is cooked twice. It is also baked at a high temperature to force the steam to expand the paste. The temperature is then lowered to allow the pastry to cook. The result is a firm but delicate outer shell, soft inner shell, and a hollow centre.
The most common shapes of choux pastry are spherical, oblong, and wheel-shaped.
The pastry shell can be used for savoury or sweet recipes by adding grated cheese, herbs, or sugar, and the fillings can range from seafood to cheese, from fruits to ice cream.
Profiteroles are small choux buns that can also be sweet or savoury. Their name comes from the word profit, which originally meant "small gratuity or gift."
As a savoury bun, profiteroles can be used as a garnish for soup. But the most popular, by far, are the sweet profiteroles filled with custard, ice cream, Chantilly cream, and fruit purée. As an added treated, they are usually coated with hot chocolate sauce.
Profiterole Recipe
Makes 30 small buns
Choux paste:
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- 250 ml (1 cup) water (or milk and water in equal proportions)
- large pinch of salt
- 65 g (5 tbsp) butter, cut in small pieces
- 10 ml (2 tsp) caster sugar
- 250 ml (1 cup) sifted plain flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg, for brushing
Chocolate sauce:
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- 200 g (7 oz) plain chocolate
- 50 ml (3 1/2 tbsp) water
- 100 ml (7 tbsp) double cream
Chantilly cream:
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- 300 ml (1 1/4 cup) double cream
- 100 ml (7 tbsp) very cold milk
- 75 g (6 tbsp) caster sugar
- 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla
Directions:
To make the choux paste, first preheat the oven to 220 C (425 F). Put the water (or milk and water) in a saucepan with the salt, butter, and sugar. Heat gently until the butter melts. Then bring to a boil. As soon as the mixture boils, take it off the heat and add the flour all in one go, mixing quickly.
Return the saucepan to the heat until the mixture thickens into a big ball of paste that leaves the sides of the pan easily (it should not stick to the sides of the pan at all). This takes about a minute. Don't overcook or beat too vigorously, as this will make the paste oily.
Remove from the heat and while the dough is still hot, beat in 2 eggs until thoroughly mixed, then beat in the other 2 eggs. Continue to beat until a smooth, glossy paste is obtained. This can get tiring, but it's worth it. The paste should still be very thick at this point.
Using a spoon (or a "pipe" pastry bag with a 1-cm or 1/2-inch plain nozzle) create walnut-size balls on well-greased baking sheets (be sure the baking sheets are truly non-stick). Space the balls about an inch apart to allow them to expand and not stick to each other while they cook.
Brush them with beaten egg.
The oven must be very hot before you put the buns in. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180 C (350 F) and continue to cook for another 10 minutes until they are golden in colour.
Move the cooked buns to a wire rack to cool and either pierce them or split them in half immediately to allow the stream to escape. This way they stay crisp on the outside.
To make the chocolate sauce, melt the chocolate with water in a bain marie (a heat-proof bowl sitting over a pan of gently boiling water; sometimes called a double-boiler.). Add the cream and stir well.
To make the Chantilly cream, whip the double cream and milk. Add the sugar and vanilla.
Split the profiteroles (on one side or in half) and fill with Chantilly cream. If you run into a little trouble and the buns do not rise very high, fear not. Cut the flat bottoms off the buns, fill the top half with cream and put two top halves together. Arrange them in a bowl and serve with the hot chocolate sauce.
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