Profiteroles are something I always thought was very tricky and time consuming to make, so I never thought to make them, only bought them!
Until one day my mom asked, if i knew how to make these, as they were here favourite.. so one Saturday afternoon - me and mom in the kitchen - tackled on this project together :O)
Surprisingly, it was very quick, and simple as well. One thing i'd do differently is probably to do the puffs first, and once they are out of the oven, to start on the filling, as you need to keep checking the puffs AND the filling as well, one of the other could burn or over cook - but luckily my mom was around to keep everything in order hehe.
We made about 25 bite sized profiteroles, and my mom loved them! Personally i like eating them a couple hours after so that the pastry goes slightly hydrated and soft from the filling, but they were nice eaten straight away as well. Will definitely make these again in the future.
Ingredients:
For choux pastry
75g butter
3/4 cup (180ml) water
3/4 cup (110g) plain flour
3 eggs
For creme filling
2 and 1/4 cups of whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar
1/2 cup (75g) plain flour, sifted
For choux pastry
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine butter and water and bring to the boil.
3. Add the flour whilst constantly beading with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes away from the side of the saucepan and forms a smooth ball. Remove from heat.
4. Transfer mixture to mixing bowl and beat in eggs, one at a time, with an electric mixer until the mixture because smooth and glossy.
5. Drop rounded tablespoons full of choux pastry dough onto the prepared trays leaving 4cm between each one. I used 2 spoons for this - filled a tablespoon with the mix and used the back of a dessert spoon to scrape and plonk it onto the paper. It was a bit sticky so I used the back of the spoon to smooth out the balls and make them nice and round.
6. Bake for 7min or until pastries puff up.
7. Lower the heat to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for a further 10min or until lightly browned and crisp.
8. Cut an opening in the side of each profiterole and bake for a further 5min until they dry out.
9. Cool the puffs on a rack till room temperature.
Making the filling
1. Bring milk and vanilla extract to the boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat and set aside for 10min.
2. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer until thick. Beat in the sifted flour. With motor operating on low speed, gradually beat in the hot milk mixture. Once the milk is incorporated, return the mix to the saucepan.
3. Stir over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens.
4. Cover surface of bowl with plastic wrap (prevents skin from forming) and refrigerate until cold.
5. Once the puffs are cooled and your custard is cold, you can fill them. Either spoon them into the slits you cut before or using a piping bag and straight nozzle.
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