Profiteroles

 Hi friends!

Well, being Bill, I decided to make an over-the-top dessert this weekend. I made a croquembouche! This is a nommy French "cayk" made from a tower of custard filled profiteroles and USUALLY held together with toffee. But I used chocolate instead :)

Here is the recipe in boring hoomin format:

Profiteroles

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 125g unsalted butter
• 1 tspn sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs

Cooking Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 200C.
2. Put water, butter and sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a rolling boil.
3. Add flour all at once and beat with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a ball that comes away from the sides of the saucepan.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The dough should be thick and glossy.
5. Use two tablespoons dipped in water to form balls of dough on a prepared baking tray *be aware that the profiteroles will magically grow when cooking, so make them about 1/2 the size you want them to be).
6. Splash a little water over the dough before putting in the oven (this creates steam which helps the cooking process).
7. Bake in your hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes - until golden brown.

Now for the recipe Bill style.......a recipe in pictures......

Pop the butter, water and sugar in a large saucepan and cook on medium heat until butter melts.....

....and it comes to a rolling boil.....

Then (while still on the heat) dump in your cup of flour - all in one go - and mix mix mix mix mix with a wooden spoon until it forms a nice smooth ball that comes away from the edges of the pan....

Ok - the next bit takes muscles. you need to add 4 eggs - one at a time - and beat really well after each addition so the egg gets mixed in nicely and the dough is nice and smooth. Now, I think we all know that handsomeness I have in abundance but muscles....nope, not this bear! So I cheat - I get Alfred to mix the eggs for me......

(Alfred is my Kitchen Aide mixer :) )

Once your dough is ready, spoon tablespoons-full onto your prepared baking trays in the form of rough rounds. Don't worry too much about the shape - the water in the dough will form steam when the profiteroles cook and this will make them puff out into big ball shapes. Because the dough can be quite sticky, it's easiest to use two spoons dipped in cold water to form your dough balls. Or you could pipe them.

With your paw (or hand) splash a bit of water over the top - this makes more steam and helps with the cooking process. Now stick them into a HOT oven for 30 to 35 minutes. they will look something like this when cooked.....

You can now fill them with creme patissiere (aka custard), or whipped cream and eat them as is, covered in icing or ganache, or hot choccie sauce, or just sprinkled with icing sugar. Or you can make one of these pawesome croquembouche towers like I did. I'll run through the steps for that in my next post RIGHT HERE 

While you're waiting you can always taste test some of these.....nom nom nom

Bill xx