Perfect Profiteroles

Don’t let the French title scare you.  Profiteroles, or small cream puffs are a mixture of flour, eggs, butter and water referred to as Pate a Choux. Easy to whip out ahead of time they’re filled with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. They make a grand ending to any meal with minimum effort.

Pate a Choux

Preheat oven to 400°

Line a sheet pan with parchment

½ cup water

4 tablespoons of butter, unsalted

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour, sifted

2 large eggs at room temperature

 Egg wash- 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

In a quart sized saucepan combine water, butter and salt and sugar over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and pour the flour into the boiling liquid all at once and stir well and vigorously. Continue stirring until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball with a slight skin on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs one at a time thoroughly incorporating into the flour mixture after each addition.

Scoop the  puff dough onto the baking sheet by the tablespoon or pipe with a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip making the mounds as uniform as possible. With a pastry brush lightly brush the egg wash on the tops of each mound. Place the sheet pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven and turn the temperature down to 375°F. Bake for 20 minutes or until mounds have puffed up and are a golden brown.  Remove from oven and turn oven off. With a small knife pierce each puff to release steam to prevent the puffs from becoming soggy and place baking sheet back into the oven with the door ajar.  Permit puffs to “dry out” for about 15 minutes.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven, transfer puffs to a rack and allow them to cool completely. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.

When time to serve, fill each puff with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and place in a shallow dessert bowl.  Drizzle the puffs with warm chocolate sauce and top with a spoonful of whipped cream if desired.