A few weeks ago, I thought that I should make profiteroles. I saw them in a cook book and thought they looked yummy and they sounded super fancy! I began to do some research on different recipes and found out that profiteroles typically are filled with ice cream. Normally, I would be all for putting ice cream in a pastry but since it was cold and rainy out, I decided to opt for a cream filling. After a bit more research, I found that when the same pastry dough for profiteroles is filled with cream, it is simply a cream puff. The cream puff filling recipes that I found, seemed like too much of a commitment for what I had wanted to be an afternoon baking project, so I decided to make up my own filling. I used Cool Whip and chocolate pudding mix instead. You can still use the same choux pastry recipe I have listed below to make profiteroles with ice cream too!
The dough for the cream puffs/profiteroles is very tricky. I had to make it twice before I got the right consistency. The trick is to cook the dough for longer than you think. Once it starts to form more of a ball and doesn't stick to the sides of the pan as easily, you are ready. You want to cook down the flour so that it is sticky before adding the eggs. Hopefully, you all have more success on your first try than I did! Also, when you pipe the dough onto the pan, make sure that you pipe all of it. I tried to do two batches and it did not work well! the second batch was more like bread in the center when you want more of a pocket/shell. I hope you all have fun making this, enjoy!
(Below are some photos of how to make the choux pastry dough.)
The dough for the cream puffs/profiteroles is very tricky. I had to make it twice before I got the right consistency. The trick is to cook the dough for longer than you think. Once it starts to form more of a ball and doesn't stick to the sides of the pan as easily, you are ready. You want to cook down the flour so that it is sticky before adding the eggs. Hopefully, you all have more success on your first try than I did! Also, when you pipe the dough onto the pan, make sure that you pipe all of it. I tried to do two batches and it did not work well! the second batch was more like bread in the center when you want more of a pocket/shell. I hope you all have fun making this, enjoy!
(Below are some photos of how to make the choux pastry dough.)
Ingredients:
Choux Pastry
Filling
Directions:
Choux Pastry
- 1 cup water
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
Filling
- 1- 8oz. tub of Cool Whip
- 1 small package of chocolate (or any flavor you want) of instant pudding
- 1/2 cup of milk
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a medium sized pot, bring the water and butter to a simmer. Add the flour and stir quickly. You should see the flour absorbing the water and a dough should form. Keep stirring to cook off the flour and some of the water, usually another minute or two.
- Take the dough off of the heat and transfer to another bowl. Use either a hand mixer or a standing paddle mixer to combine the eggs and salt, one egg at a time. The dough should go from shiny to sticky as the egg is incorporated.
- Spoon the dough into a gallon sized ziplock or a piping bag. Snip off the tip and pipe little puffs onto the baking sheet. Try to use all of the dough. Then, dip your finger in a little bit of water and smooth down the peaks of each puff. These can easily burn in the oven.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes, depending on the size of your puffs. These times may vary but they re done when they look golden, like the puffs in the above photo.
- To make the filling, scoop all of the Cool Whip into a mixing bowl. Add the package of instant pudding and 1/2 cup of milk. Mix with a hand mixer until well combined. You can add more milk depending on how thick you want your filling to be.
- Once the cream puffs are out of the oven, let them cool completely before adding filling. If you plan to put ice cream in the middle, slice the puffs in half and scoop one scoop of ice cream in the middle, like a sandwich. Do this immediately before serving. You can use the same method if using cream, however, I used a piping bag and a large star tip to fill my puffs. If using a piping bag, fill them until you feel resistance.