This recipe for profiteroles in chocolate sauce varies from a standard profiterole recipe because they are filled with ice cream instead of whipped cream. It can easily be adapted to be served with a fruit based sauce which makes a less rich dessert.  Profiteroles freeze well if frozen un-filled. So if this recipe makes more than you need put them in a bag and freeze for a quick desert at another time. The chocolate sauce is very quick to make and can be used for any other dessert needing a chocolate sauce.

Link to measurement conversion chart

Ingredients

• 300ml water
• 75g butter
• 150g plain flour
• 5 large eggs, beaten
• 150g plain chocolate
• 100ml double cream
• 30g sugar
• 1 tub vanilla Ice cream - homemade if you have any

You will also need

• Piping bag with a large plain nozzle
• 2 Baking sheets greased
• a saucepan
• a wooden spoon or hand held mixer with a beater attachment

Method

Preheat your oven to 220c

To make the choux pastry bring the water to boil then add the butter and a pinch of salt, heat until the butter melts. Remove the pan from the heat then gradually beat in the flour, the paste will dry out  in the heat of the pan, this is fine. Using a wooden spoon or hand mixer, slowly beat in the eggs a little at a time, Slowly is very important as if you add the eggs too quickly the pastry will be runny and no use. Do not add more flour if this happens, you will have to start again. The pastry should have the appearance of a thick paste once done. Put the paste into a piping bag and you are ready to make your profitteroles

1. Make your Choux pastry
2. Pipe 12 – 16 balls of pastry onto each baking sheet allowing plenty of room for them to spread
3. Bake in the oven for 10 mins then reduce the oven temperature to 180c, and cook for a further 20 mins
4. Remove from the oven and switch off the heat. Pierce all the profiteroles so the steam can escape, then put them back in the oven with the door open for 10 mins to help them crisp up.
5. When ready to serve melt the chocolate and sugar together then add the cream
6. Slice the bottom off each profiterole and then fill with a scoop of ice cream. For each serving, arrange 4 profiteroles on a plate and pour over some of the sauce

Serving suggestions and variations

• If you don’t want to assemble just before you eat them, fill with ice cream and freeze in advance, remove from the freezer approx. 10 mins before serving, nb the profiteroles may go a little soft.
• Use a raspberry coulis instead of chocolate sauce
• Fill with whipped cream instead of ice cream, best if you want to prepare ahead
• Use a chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla
• Fill the profiteroles with a savoury filling and cheese or white sauce for a savoury starter
• Make larger choux buns and use 1 per serving instead of 4, slice the bun  in half rather than filling from the bottom
• Use slightly less cream to make a thicker chocolate sauce

Acknowledgements

I used this recipe the very first time I made profiteroles and they worked out perfectly. The original batch wer apreciated so much by the firends that ate them they took the spare ones home!I then tried other recipes and failed miserably so went back to this one and have used it ever since.  It comes from a recipe book called “A taste of France” by Frederic Lebain and Jean Paul Paireault.

If you have enjoyed this recipe you might also like to try one of the following:

• When you have guests to impress why not offer them Scrambled eggs with Smoked Salmon or Trout for a richer breakfast dish
• An omelette makes a tasty lunch but a Souffled Omlette goes a step further and is delicious
• We love Tiramisu, and you can't beat this Black Forest version with extra "Misu".

We hope you have enjoyed these recipes

Happy eating!