Chocolate Profiteroles with Pastry Cream (Cream Puffs)

Course: Desserts, Pastry, Snacks, Tea / coffee break

Cuisine: European, French

Keyword: Choux Pastry, Choux puffs, How to make choux pastry, Pastry Cream, Profiteroles

Prep Time: 50

Cook Time: 45

Chilling time: 4

Total Time: 5 35

Servings: Profiteroles

Calories: 147kcal

Author: Dini

Chocolate Profiteroles with Pastry Cream (Cream Puffs) - rich, creamy custard filling inside light, airy, crispy, perfectly baked choux pastry shells, and then drizzled with a luscious chocolate sauce on top.

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Ingredients

Choux Pastry

1 batch of choux pastry dough

Pastry Cream

1 ½ batches of pastry cream for 30 servings ingredients as follows
3 cups milk
9 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
4 tbsp cornstarch
1.5 tbsp vanilla bean paste / extract / 1 vanilla bean pod
5 large egg yolks
1 large egg
4.5 tbsp unsalted butter softened

Chocolate Sauce

6 oz semi sweet chocolate
⅓ cup cream
4 tbsp unsalted butter softened
Generous pinch of salt
1 tbsp agave / corn syrup optional
2 tbsp bourbon optional

Instructions

Choux Pastry

Preheat oven to 420°F.
Prepare choux pastry dough according to the recipe here. When the choux pastry dough is ready, place it in a pastry bag that has a large round tip (or simply cut the tip off of the pastry bag).
Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper and mist the surface with water (either using a mister or lightly sprinkle water with your hands - this is an optional step).
Pipe 1 - 1 ½ inch round choux pastry mounds on to the baking sheet, with at least 1 inch space between each. (When piping choux pastry, keep the tip slightly embedded just under the surface of the piped choux pastry. This is to ensure the piped shape is as smooth as possible). Then gently flatten the pointy tip with a damp finger.
Transfer the piped choux pastry to the oven, and immediately lower the heat to 375°F. Bake in preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes in the center of the oven, or until the choux pastry shells puff up and are golden brown on top. Do not open the oven door at least until you have reached the 25 minute mark.
Remove from the oven, and prick each shell with a toothpick and let them cool down completely.

Pastry Cream

Follow the instructions in this recipe to make pastry cream (with scaled up ingredient quantities).
When the prepared choux pastry has been chilled, place the pastry cream in a piping bag with a bismarck filling tip, or round tip (about ½ cm). Keep it chilled until needed.

Chocolate Sauce

Place all the ingredients, except for the butter and bourbon, in a saucepan or microwave-safe bowl.
Heat over medium low heat (or over a double boiler). Stir and melt the chocolate to get a smooth, shiny sauce. This can be done in the microwave as well.
While the sauce is warm, add the softened butter and bourbon and whisk to mix completely.
Use immediately. If it cools down too much, you can warm it up again in the microwave in 15 second intervals.

Assembly

Cut an ‘x’ on the bottom of the choux pastry (see photos in the post). Pipe in the pastry cream (with a bismarck tip), until the pastry cases are almost full.
Place the profiteroles on a plate and keep in the fridge (covered) until ready to serve. The cases are best filled as close to serving time as possible, to prevent them from getting too soggy.
Dip them in the chocolate sauce or pour the warm chocolate sauce over the profiteroles just before serving.

Video

Notes

Other choux pasty related recipes

Classic choux pastry, Perfect cream puffs recipe, Chocolate choux pastry, Chouquettes (French sugar puffs), Choux au craquelin, Classic chocolate eclairs, Earl grey eclairs, Chicken bouchees (chicken puffs)

Nutrition