Monday 1 March 2010

Profiteroles

Profiterole Story 1: At my parents wedding one of the puddings served up was profiteroles. However, as my Dad was busy greeting guests/celebrating/thinking about his speech/generally chatting away he never got one. All the guests were happily enjoying their “little bites of deliciousness”, filled with cream and covered in chocolate, but not one got to my Dad. And ever since then he has been making up for it by grabbing the profiterole chance whenever possible.DSCF6365Profiterole Story 2: I went on a week long cookery course a couple of years ago now, and one afternoon we made profiteroles. The lesson over-ran a little, and profiteroles tend to go soggy and flat when filled with their cream and left ahead of time. Therefore on the way home my friend and I were carrying three boxes: one of the delicate choux buns, one of lightly whipped cream and one of silky chocolate ganache – all waiting to be put together once safely home (aka safely near my Dad). Getting the tube home at the height of rush hour, standing in a packed London tube with wobbly boxes of rapidly melting cream, squashed between stressed office workers – quite an experience. Happily – the profiteroles were worth it. Yum.DSCF6368SO with these two profiterole memories with me I felt it was high time they were welcomed back to my kitchen. Choux pastry is a slight conundrum of pastry really – different to everything else. A light bun mixture made in a saucepan that puffs up to be fairly hollow and airy with a crisp outside, just waiting to be filled with all kinds of delicious things. I stuck with whipped cream, but for even more decadence these can be filled with pastry cream or ice cream. Of course choux pastry is not only made for profiteroles – it makes long eclairs, choux “swans”, choux rings, and savoury cheese gougeres. At big events and parties, profiteroles are traditionally served in beautiful towering stacks…but by the time I came to photograph these there simply weren’t that many left!
DSCF6359These profiteroles are good. Extremely good. Considering they are cream+chocolate+pastry it is no surprise they are very addictive. The pastry has to be done carefully and exactly right (this is the kind of recipe where baking becomes a real science) but is fairly simple when you get the idea and is so quick to put together. What are you waiting for? My recipe was from the classic Delia, which you can find here. You can also find all her tips on choux pastry here. Make. Eat. (Eat Another). Enjoy. Smile :)

13 comments:

La Table De Nana said...

Lucy..Yours are so much nicer than mine have ever been.
Not only do you bake beautifully..you write beautifully too.
I think you have very lucky parents.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

That is a wonderful treat! Profiteroles are so delicious and yours look so good

Cheers,

Rosa

Dewi said...

I never met anyone who wouldn't like this delicious choux pastry. You are really talented baker Lucy! That really look delicious.

Mr. P said...

OMG. You made choux; you could school me at pie! :)

Jessica@Foodmayhem said...

I love the profiterole story about your parent's wedding. I can relate since I didn't get much food at my wedding either. It's just impossible to chew when you have hundreds of people to talk to. Everyone tells us there were some great stuffed clams at our wedding but my hubby and I didn't get any...I should try to get their recipe.

apparentlyjessy said...

Yum Lucy! These are really perfect looking profiteroles. I personally am too scared to attempt them!
The chocolate covered one is just so decadent looking. I bet your Dad ate heaps!

Bob said...

Those look perfect. I've never made choux before, but I love all the stuff it makes. Heh.

Apples and Butter said...

I've just started experimenting with choux pastry myself! I love the way yours turned out - slightly more sturdy looking than mine - and am definitely checking out the recipe.

Faith said...

What a great wedding story! I bet your dad loves it when you make profiteroles! :) They look decadently delicious1

Ash said...

I love making these!! They are always soo good... when you know, can end up being a bad thing... because then you want more!

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Hey, well done, you!

Now have a go at making savoury eclairs (see my latest blogpost)...

Dinners and Dreams said...

Light and airy and so good with the cream filling.

Nisrine

James said...

... and there's my favourite the butterscotch creme pat filling with buttersctoch icing. Heaven.

Everyone loves profiteroles & eclairs. Oops. Knew there was something else I should have made today.