Chocolate Profiteroles/Eclairs – Decadent Treats

Chocolate Profiteroles/Eclairs

Decadent chocolate blanketing a cloud like, delicate pastry with rich vanilla pastry cream oozing out as you sink your teeth in it. Yum! I’ve inherited my love for these fancy French pastries from my mother. Growing up in Lahore, I remember walking into the neighborhood Shezan or Gourmet bakery with her, and buying a dozen eclairs. The majority of them would finish before we even reached home! As imported ingredients were a novelty at the time, and electricity super expensive, I never got around to baking these at home in Pakistan. To be honest, as a teenager, I never baked, or cooked (Carefree living at its best!)  Fast forward seventeen years to present-day Colorado, and my sweet tooth often urges me to try out new recipes. My mouth has watered countless times as I looked at the cream puffs and eclairs in our local grocery store, reliving my childhood memories, but truth be told, it has mostly ended in disappointment. The pastry is either dried out and stale, or the cream is not the right sweetness.

In my hunt for the perfect recipe, I came across Entertaining with Beth. Her youtube videos are detailed and informative, and her recipes do turn out really good. Here is my rendition of her recipe , with a few slight chnages, and including tips for making it foolproof.

Ingredients: ( makes 10 circular puffs)

Shells:

2 large eggs
4 1/2 tbsp (67g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (120 ml) of water
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp (5 ml) sugar
1/2 cup (60 g) of flour

Pastry Cream:

1 cups ( 240 ml) milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon ( 15 g) butter

Glaze:

¼ cup dark chocolate morsels
3 – 4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 F.
2. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment/wax paper
3. Start by making the Pate a choux (fancy French name for the puffed shells).
4. Put water and butter in a pan, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and dump the flour, salt and sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon till it all comes together in a ball. Turn off the heat.
5. Cool slightly. Flatten it out and break an egg directly over it. Again, mix well. Repeat with the second egg. At first it will seem slimy, but it will come together in a sticky dough.
   

   

   

   

   

   

   
6. Transfer to a piping bag. I use a regular sandwich bag with one corner snipped off. (the less I have to clean, the better!)Pipe circular swirls about an inch apart. (you can also pipe long finger like shapes) These will puff up so make sure you give them plenty of room. Tip: wet a teaspoon and with its back smooth out the tops.
7. Place in the oven and bake at 400F for 10 mins, then lower temperature to 350F and bake for an additional 15 mins. (If you are baking the long éclair shapes, you might have to vary the temp depending on how thick you have piped them. You don’t want uncooked dough in the center) TIP: Don’t open the oven door to peek in. It will mess with the temperature control and won’t allow the profiteroles to puff up!
8. Once they are done, prop the oven door open, and with the tip of a knife poke a hole in each profiterole to allow steam to escape. Leave in the oven with the door open for 10-15 mins. Then, take out and allow to cool at room temperature. They will be like hollow shells.

   

9. While the profiteroles are baking, prepare the pastry cream.
10. Bring milk to boil with the butter.
11. In a separate heat-proof bowl, mix two egg yolks with the sugar and cornstarch. At first it will look crumbly, but whisk vigorously till it turns a smooth, play yellow.
12. Pour in a few tablespoons of the warm milk to temper (bring up the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them!). Slowly incorporate the rest of the milk.
13. Transfer it back to the pot and simmer. The cornstarch will begin to thicken. Once it starts to coat the back of a spoon, the cream in ready. Add the vanilla extract.
14. Leave in a bowl with cellophane wrap touching the top so it doesn’t develop a crust.
15. Once cooled, put in a piping bag with a thin, long nozzle ready to pipe into the profiteroles.
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    pastry cream for profiteroles
16. Prepare the glaze.
17. Mix the dark chocolate morsel with the milk. Put in microwave for 30 seconds.
18. Add the butter. Microwave for additional 20-30 seconds.
19. Stir to combine and keep in the oven with the profiteroles till you are ready to fill them.
20. Poke a hole in the bottom of each profiterole with the piping nozzle and gently inject the cream. You will start to feel it get heavy. Don’t overfill.
21. Spoon the chocolate glaze over each profiterole and chill till you are ready to eat!

    

Do try this wonderful dessert and let me know how it turned out for you. Like and subscribe to my blog , and leave me comments down below. I would love to hear from you!