Profiterole Dough Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the butter and salt until the butter has melted; remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the flour until no dry lumps remain; stir in the eggs, one at a time, adding the next egg only after the last one has been completely incorporated into the mixture. Drop the profiterole paste onto the prepared baking sheet in evenly spaced dollops.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pastries have puffed up and turned golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
• Beat 1 cup of heavy cream to soft peaks; stir in the confectioners' sugar and rosewater until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the remaining cup of heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted and smooth.
• To assemble, poke a hole into the bottom of each pastry and fill with the rose water cream. Place the filled profiteroles onto individual serving plates and top with the warm sauce. Leftover profiteroles may be stored sealed in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. To make the profiteroles, put the butter and 2 tsp of the caster sugar in a saucepan with 150ml water. Place the pan over a low heat until the butter and sugar have melted, then bring to the boil. Take off the heat, add the flour all at once and beat energetically with a wooden spoon until the dough comes away from the sides of the pan.
• Leave to cool for 5 mins, then beat in the eggs bit by bit until you have a stiff, glossy mixture (this process is much easier in a food processor). Rinse two baking trays with cold water, shaking off any excess so they are slightly damp (this helps the pastry to rise). Using 2 teaspoons, spoon blobs of the mixture onto the baking trays. Then place in the oven and cook for about 18-20 mins until well risen and brown. Remove the profiteroles from the oven and cut a small slit in the base of each one so they don't collapse. Cool on a wire rack.
• When they're cold, whip the cream lightly until just holding its shape. Sweeten to taste with remaining sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract. Cut the profiteroles in half, fill them with the sweetened cream and pile them up on a plate. You can refrigerate them for 1-2 hrs at this point but not for any longer as the pastry will go soggy.
• To make the sauce, sift the cocoa powder into a bowl. Put the sugar in a pan with 100ml water and warm over a low heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil, cook for 1 min, then pour over the cocoa powder and stir well until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan, cook for 1 min then set aside for 15 mins before drizzling over the profiteroles.

Steps:

• Make the choux pastry: Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Combine the milk, water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until the liquid is shimmering and the butter is melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour and stir to form a dough. Cook, stirring, until the dough releases from the sides of the pan and the flour smells slightly nutty but doesn't brown, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the dough to a large bowl, add 1 egg and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until fully combined. Beat in the remaining 3 eggs, one at a time, to make a sticky, glossy dough.
• Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2- or 3/4-inch round tip. Pipe mounds of dough on the baking sheet, 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide and about 1 inch high, spacing them 1 inch apart; press down the pointy tops with a wet finger. Bake until deep golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let the pastry puffs cool completely on the pan.
• Make the chocolate sauce: Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cream and corn syrup to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Immediately pour over the chocolate and cover the bowl; let sit 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth.
• Assemble the profiteroles: Cut the pastry puffs in half horizontally. Fill the bottoms with medium-size scoops of ice cream (about 3 tablespoons each). Cover with the tops and spoon the chocolate sauce all over. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• For the choux balls: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C. Put 1 1/2 cups/375 ml water, the butter, sugar and salt in a roomy saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once, beating until it forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Return the pan to the heat for a minute or two and beat to dry it out a little. (Removing moisture will allow the paste to absorb more egg, which will ultimately make the puffs lighter.)
• Remove the pan from the heat. Beat in the eggs, the equivalent of one at a time, until fully incorporated. (Do not try to add them at once because they can't be incorporated quickly enough, it makes a total mess, and furthermore you may not need all of them.) After the third addition of egg, add only enough to make dough that will fall, glossy and heavy, from the spoon. Beat in the vanilla. Spoon the dough into a piping bag.
• Mix a bit of milk into any remaining egg (if no egg left, use only milk). Have at the ready with a pastry brush for glazing. Pipe the dough into evenly-sized (about 1 inch/2.5 cm) balls on a nonstick baking sheet, leaving a good 2 inches/5 cm between them so they have room to expand. Brush the tops with the glaze and press the snouts down with a fingertip. Bake until puffed up, light, dry and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, so they can breathe all around and will keep their shape and not go soggy.
• For the chocolate sauce: Heat the cream in a saucepan just to the boiling point. Turn off the heat, and add the chocolate. Let sit a minute to melt, and stir until smooth, adding more cream to thin, if needed.
• For assembling: Slice 12 choux balls in half (reserve the remainder for another use). Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom half of each, then replace the tops. Arrange 3 on each serving plate, and drizzle over chocolate sauce to each person's liking.