Cream Puffs a.k.a Profiteroles

The first time, when I had profiteroles, I couldn't stop at one. A friend had got me a pack of 12 from the local super market here, where, they make it fresh and sell. I had 8 out of 12  at that very moment. They just melt in the mouth, super light and super super yummy. The ones I had were not coated with chocolate glaze but with icing sugar dusted over them.

For filling, I chose whipped cream but people like ice cream (mainly in USA), custard or pastry creams (chocolate, vanilla, etc). Next time, I would fill it with Mascarpone n cream. 

Here, in Netherlands, we have a large profiterole from a city called Den Bosch. Its somewhat larger than tennis ball filled with whipped cream and coated entirely or almost entirely with dark chocolate.

For cream puffs, we make Choux pastry (pronounced as Shu), which is a light pastry dough. It is the only dough which cooked and baked. It contains only water, flour, butter and eggs. But i added little sugar and salt. No rising agent is added separately; the eggs do the job. The same dough is used to make eclairs as well. 

Ingredients:

For Choux Pastry

125gms - Water 

 55 gms -Butter (I used unsalted) 

 70 gms - Flour

          2 - eggs

 a pinch  - Salt (eliminate this if you are using salted butter)

 a pinch -  Sugar

Whipped Cream:

 200ml - whipping cream

  1tbsp - Powdered Sugar 

 a drop - Vanilla essence.

Method:

1. Preheat Oven at 200 C.

2. In a pan, add water, sugar, salt, butter (cut in cubes). Bring it on medium heat and let the butter melt. Turn off the heat as soon as the butter melts. 

3. Add the flour and quickly stir it vigorously with a wooden spatula till it forms a mass.

4. Add one egg at a time and mix it hard again. till it forms a consistency that it falls a dollop. I don't have the falling picture but consistency can be seen in the picture below.

5. Fill the pastry bag with pastry and  pipe it  around 1" round on the baking pan with silpat or parchment paper,. If it make a peak and push the peak down lightly with wet finger.

6. Bake the pastry for about 20-25 Minutes or till it turns golden brown. 

7. Remove from the oven and let them cook on the wire stand.

8. While the choux pastries puffs are cooling down. Whip the cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence on slow speed till it forms medium stiff peaks.

9. Fill the pastry bag with whipped cream or any filling you are using and pipe it inside the hollow choux by making small insertion at the bottom.

10. Now, either dust the icing sugar on the filled choux puffs or can glaze it. I glazed this batch with melted chocolate and butter glaze.