Cream Puffs/Profiteroles

Pate a choux
2-1/2 cups (375 g) bread flour
4 cups (560 g) water
1-1/4 cup (280 g) unsalted butter
1 tsp. (5 g) salt
9 eggs (513 g)

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place butter and salt in water in a heavy pot and put it on the stove on low. Once the butter is melted, add the bread flour all at once and stirred until well combined. Bring the mixture to medium high and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for about a minute or until there is a floury buildup on the bottom of the pan.

Put the hot mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer and set it to medium speed. Use a digital thermometer for this part. Once the mixture hits 120°F (about a minute and a half), begin to add the eggs, one at a time. Test the doneness at the end by pulling the batter between your finger and thumb. It should stretch easily.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag (about half full) and add a 1/2″ round tip. Using a cup with a 2″ diameter bottom, draw several 2” diameter circles on a sheet pan sized piece of parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of that. (It’s much easier to pipe if you have a template to work with).  Pipe them so they are approximately 1″ high. The profiteroles will spread a little as they bake, so space them 1″ apart. Since you’ll be baking one batch at a time, cover what you don’t use and store in the fridge.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400°F, then lower temperature to 350°F for 20 more minutes then 300°F for 10-20 minutes more. Take them out when the cracks are the same color as the outside.

Once cool, cut small 1/4″ holes into the sides or bottom of each profiterole. They should be dry looking in the middle.

Chantilly Cream
2 cups (454 g) 36% heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. (3 g) vanilla

Whip the cream on high with either a hand mixer or stand mixer until it starts to thicken a little, then add the sugar gradually until it reaches soft peak. Stir in the vanilla. Load the whipping cream into a piping bag with a 1/4″ tip. Pipe the whipped cream into the holes you cut in each profiterole.

Chocolate Glaze
2 cups (340 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (120 g) heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. (5 g) vanilla

Put the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. When they are melted, take pot off heat, add the whipping cream and vanilla and stir well. Dip the top half of each profiterole in the glaze and when you have the full sheet done, refrigerate to let the glaze set. Enjoy!!

Adapted from Professional Baking by Wayne Gisslen