Small soft vanilla filled Profiteroles in a heavenly chocolate cream must probably be among the best there is.
I often say I’ll quickly make some profiteroles, giving the impression it’s a 10-minute task. In reality, it takes about 1.5 hours, but the effort is well rewarded. Most importantly, it’s enjoyable to create and everyone loves it.
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Chocolate cream
Start by preparing the chocolate cream so that it has time to cool before you pour it over the filled profiteroles. The honey and a pinch of salt make this chocolate cream extra special.
Vanilla cream filling
For the filling, I make vanilla cream / custard that I let cool and then mix it with whipped cream. Because I want the filling to be light and fluffy. Usually I mix the same amount of vanilla cream as whipped cream. Just remember that the filling should not be too sweet because the chocolate cream is sweet enough.
If you don’t want to make your own vanilla cream from scratch, it’s fine to use ready-made vanilla cream /custard in powder form that you whisk together with milk. And then mix it with whipped cream
Choux pastry – cream puffs
Making choux pastry is actually not that difficult. I just have two steps that are important. One is to absolutely not open the oven door until 20 minutes have passed. And the second is to poke a small hole in them with a toothpick and bake for another 5 minutes so that they have time to dry out a bit before I take them out of the oven.
You can prepare the petite choux the day before and store in an air tight container. But you can also freeze them and use them for a later occasion. They thaw quite quickly, just under 10 minutes.
Assembling
Cut a small hole in the profiterole and fill with vanilla cream using a piping bag. Place the filled profiteroles in a bowl and pour a layer of chocolate cream over them. Then layer the vanilla filled profiteroles with chocolate cream until the last layer which will be chocolate cream. If you want, you can decorate with a little whipped cream on top.
If you liked Vanilla Profiterole In Chocolate Cream, you may also like:
Vanilla Profiteroles In Chocolate Cream
Equipment
- 2 pots
- 2 bowls
- 1 Electric mixer
Ingredients
Chocolate cream
- 60 g Corn starch (2.11 oz)
- 600 g Milk (20.30 fl.oz)
- 300 g Granulated sugar (10.60 oz)
- 100 g Cocoa powder (3.50 oz), sifted
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 tsp Vanilla powder or 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g Butter (3.50 oz) cut into cubes
- 1 pinch Salt
Cream filling
- 6 Egg yolks
- 200 g Granulated sugar (7 oz)
- 1 liter Milk ( 33.80 fl.oz)
- 100 g Corn starch (3.50 oz)
- 100 g Butter (3.50 oz)
- 1 tsp Vanilla powder or 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 240 ml Whipped cream (1 cup)
- 1 tbsp Sugar
Choux pastry
- 236 ml Water 8 (fl.oz)
- 115 g Butter unsalted (4 oz) cubed and at room temp
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- 135 g All-purpose flour (4.7 oz) , sifted
- 4-5 Eggs medium
Instructions
Chocolate cream
- In a small bowl combine cornstarch with about 1/3 of the milk. When the cornstarch dissolves, set aside.
- Pour the remaining milk in a medium sized pot. Then add sugar,salt and cocoa powder and bring to a boil while stirring continuously.
- Add the cornstarch mixture. Whisk briskly so that no lumps form and cook until it thickens. You want a thick, smooth cream.
- Remove from heat and then add the honey and butter while stirring continuously until completely combined.
- If your chocolate cream doesn't turn out smooth you can beat it in a blender until even the smallest lumps disappear.
- Finally transfer the mixture to a container. Cover with plastic wrap, just make sure that the plastic wrap touches the surface of the chocolate cream directly to avoid a skin forming on top. Let it cool down and then refrigerate to cool completely.
- Mix well before using.
Vanilla cream – filling
- Whisk the egg yolks and ½ of the sugar in a bowl until fluffy.
- Add 2 tablespoons of the milk. Add the cornflower and whisk again.
- In the meantime pour the rest of the milk and the rest of the sugar in a non stick pot.
- Place over heat and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil add 115 ml (½ cup) of the egg mixture and whisk until the eggs start to warm up but not cook.
- Then add 230 ml (1 cup) egg mixture while whisking continuously.
- Pour the remaining egg mixture into the pot and whisk until the cream thickens. You need to whisk continuously over low heat so that the cream doesn’t create a film on the bottom of the pot.
- Give it a taste to make sure the cornstarch has been cooked and doesn’t have a floury flavor.
- Remove from heat and finally add the butter, honey and vanilla. Whisk until the butter melts.
- Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the surface of the cream directly to avoid a film forming on top. Let it cool down and then refrigerate to cool completely.
- In a bowl add whipping cream with 1 tbsp sugar. Whisk until soft peaks form.
- Mix the whipped cream with the cold vanilla cream.
Choux pastry
- Preheat oven to 200° C (390° F).
- In a pot, add water, sugar and butter. Place over heat.
- In another bowl add sifted flour and salt
- When the butter melts and the water starts to boil, remove from heat.
- Add the flour mixture in one go.
- Stir with spatula until completely combined. When the flour has absorbed the water and it’s forming a dough, return the pan to the stove (medium heat).
- Cook the dough for 1 – 3 minutes (over medium heat) while you mix and move it around in the pan until you get a dough that pulls away from the sides of the pan, forms a film or oil droplets on the bottom of the pan. Stir briskly for 2-3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot with the spatula to remove any pieces of dough that have possible stuck to the bottom.
- Transfer the dough to a bowl, and let it cool down slightly for a few minutes.
- With a hand-held mixer mix the dough while adding the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Make sure the eggs are lightly beaten so that you can stop adding eggs immediately, when you reach the right consistency, a dough with a glossy sheen with pipe-able consistency. It should be elastic enough to be pulled without breaking.
- Fill a piping bag with the dough
- Pipe round shape balls on to the baking sheet – using a piping bag fitted with a large tip. Then with a damp finger, flatten the apex and any points.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 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 20 minute mark.
- During the last 5 minutes of baking, prick each shell with a skewer or toothpick and let them dry out in the oven while baking.
- Remove from the oven, and let the choux pastry cool completely in a draft-free area.
Assembling
- Cut a small hole in the profiterole and fill with vanilla cream using a piping bag.
- Place the filled profiteroles in a bowl and pour a layer of chocolate cream over them. Then layer the vanilla filled profiteroles with chocolate cream until the last layer which will be chocolate cream. If you want, you can decorate with a little whipped cream on top.
Βon appétit
