Profiteroles elevate any occasion but are not as challenging as they look. I have tried many recipes for the choux pastry and found this one to be the most fool-proof, even with my temperamental oven. Once cooked, you can fill the choux with whipped cream, pastry cream, or ice cream. In this case, vanilla ice cream, and Peppermint Bark Maple make for a festive combination for the holidays and well into winter.
Profiteroles with Ice Cream and Peppermint Bark Syrup
Peppermint Bark Profiteroles
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
1 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs
ice cream (vanilla is tried and true but go with your favorite)
Instructions
- 1 Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
- 2 Combine water, butter, and salt in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil.
- 3 Add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Continue to stir over medium heat until the dough starts to form a loose ball and pull away from the sides of the pot cleanly, about 2 - 5 minutes.
- 4 Remove the pot from the heat and add the eggs one at a time, stirring constantly until fully incorporated.
- 5 Fill a piping bag, using a fairly large opening at the bottom to squeeze out a round that is about 2" wide. Make sure you leave an inch of space between each round. If you don't have a pastry bag, you can use a ziplock. Fill it with the dough and snip off a corner for an opening.
- 6 Dip your fingers in some cold water to smooth the top of each round and fix any errant pieces of dough.
- 7 Place the tray in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until they have just started turning golden brown. Remove from the oven. You don't want them to be underbaked so you may have to open one to make sure they are fully cooked and if not return to the oven to complete baking.
- 8 When fully cooked, remove from the oven and pierce the tops with a small paring knife to let steam escape. Cool completely.
- 9 When ready to serve, cut in half and fill with a small scoop of ice cream of your choice. Put 3-5 on a plate for each person and top with Runamok Peppermint Bark Maple.