December 18, 2018
Profiteroles!
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Classic profiteroles with a vanilla mascarpone cream filling, and a chocolate sauce.
Profiteroles!
‘Tis the season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.” Also, ’tis the season to eat whatever you want, including profiteroles. I’m joking really, you can eat what you want at any point in the year, but the general consensus between most people is that at Christmas you can let yourself get a little bit looser and more carefree. Profiteroles are the key to this success.
For such an incredibly long time, I have had request after request for a profiterole recipe that you all can enjoy at home. I will say from the off, a recipe such as this isn’t ‘fool-proof’, just like macarons. They can be hard to get right sometimes, and you just need a little faith.
Choux pastry
I first learnt to make these when I was at cookery school before this blog began. It was something I had really wanted to learn to make for so long, but when looking at recipes online I would see ‘choux’ and ‘pastry’ and feel a bit disheartened and give up. After being taught it, I realise its easier than I thought. It just has a posh name…
I would also say that these are a bit faffy, but 100% worth it if you want to wow your guests at the dinner table over the festive period with homemade profiteroles. Yes, shop bought ones such as the M&S ones are utterly delightful, but making anything yourself is always better. Usually cheaper too!
I will try to explain in my best possible way what you have to do in the method, but event the well practised can get it a little awry sometimes. I remember being in one of my cookery school exams and one of the tasks was our Profiteroles, and it just wasn’t working for someone. Kind of like how in one of the more recent Stand Up To Cancer GBBO episodes, Nick Hewer had a total and utter disaster, but still managed to serve something!
Simple and classic
For my first profiterole recipe, I wanted to go quite classic to make sure you guys can crack it, and then we can adventure on to new flavours and ideas. I went for a simple vanilla custard filling, but you can flavour it to what you prefer. You can even use whipped cream instead, as that does make them a lot lighter but it’s up to you.
Topping
I used a simple chocolate ganache style sauce for the topping because you want something sweet, chocolatey and ever so slightly gooey to stick all the profiteroles together in a pile. The beautiful thing about profiteroles is you can afford to be messy. Just get a nice dish, plate, bowl, or anything and pile the profiteroles on. You don’t need to take ages presenting them because they always look glorious.
Top tip!
You could serve these in individual dishes, or one giant pile like I have, but they always look incredible. You need to have faith when making the choux pastry as it can look a little odd at some points when making it, but stick with it. Make sure to pierce the bottom of each profiterole to let the steam out so they stay in their wonderful shape, and ENJOYYYY.
Profiteroles!
Ingredients
Choux Pastry
- 150 ml water
- 65 g plain flour
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 2 medium eggs
- Pinch of sugar
- Pinch of salt
Vanilla Mascarpone Cream
- 250 g mascarpone
- 75 ml double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
Chocolate Sauce
- 100 ml double cream
- 150 g milk chocolate
Instructions
For the Choux Pastry
- Preheat your oven to 200C/180C Fan, and line a large tray with parchment paper.
- Bring the water, sugar, salt and unsalted butter to the boil in a pan over a medium heat.
- Remove from the heat as soon as it boils, and add in ALL of the flour in one go.
- Stir like crazy and beat for about 15 seconds or so till a smooth ball shape is formed and it's coming away from the edge of the pan. If it doesn't come away, cook the mixture on a low heat for a little longer and try again.
- Leave the mixture to cool for five minutes or so, off the heat.
- Beat your eggs, and then GRADUALLY beat it into the flour mixture. Beat fully and well each time you add in more egg until you reach a smooth, glossy and dropping consistency.
- If the mixture becomes really thin, you've added too much egg. If it curdles, you've added too much at one time, and if the mixture is too stiff, you've not added enough!
- Pipe little rounds onto the tray, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes roughly until crisp. I made 20 profiteroles with this batch.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and pierce the bottom of the profiterole immediately with a skewer and leave to rest with the hole facing upwards to let the steam escape and let the pastry cool.
For the Vanilla Mascarpone
- Add the vanilla, mascarpone and double cream and stir with a spoon to combine.
- Add in the icing sugar and stir again! Whisk up until thick.
- Pour the mixture into a piping bag, snip off the end, and carefully fill the profiteroles with the cream through the steam hole until full.
For the Chocolate Sauce
- Heat the cream in a pan over a low-medium heat.
- Add in the chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth.
- Leave to cool before using!
- Coat the profiteroles with the sauce and then decorate how you fancy. I made a giant pile and then drizzled over some extra chocolate!
Notes
- I made 30 profiteroles in this batch, and that gives 4ish per person depending on how many you want to serve!
- You can flavour the mascarpone cream differently if you prefer such as with orange extract.
- These are best eaten on the day of making, but can be eaten for two days after once refrigerated.
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J x
© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.
Hi,
I love this recipie, my first ever attempt at profiteroles was a success! But I would like to make éclairs, can I use this choux recipie for making eclairs? Or would I need to alter anything? Thanks
Yes you can! Baking time may be 1-2 minutes longer as they’re larger x
Made this as larger ones for my son first time making them, wow amazing, they were fab, thank you so much x
Hello. Making these for xmas day. Can you double or triple the ingredients to double/triple the batch or is it best to make a batch at a time?
Hiya, this should be fine! Hope this helps! x
If I make the shells today but don’t fill them until tomorrow, where should I store the empty shells overnight…an airtight container or a cake box? Thank you
Hiya! I would use a cake box. Hope this helps! x
Do you use a piping nozzle?
Hiya! No – I just snip off the end of a piping bag! Hope this helps! x
Hi i was thinking of making these but wanted to do a kinda Buenos filling would i just add some bars of it melted to the filling mix
Hiya! I personally have not tried this, but it is definitely worth a go! Let me know! x
How many does this batch make? I ask as it mentions 20 in the instructions and then 30 in the notes. Thank you
Hiya! How many you make depends on how large you pipe them! Hope this helps! x
I never normally think to leave reviews, but after making these for our girls Christmas dinner, I just had to!! They were so easy to make compared to other Choux recipes, and the compliments I received from these were outstanding!! Everyone said they are the best profiteroles they’d ever had and they were not wrong! Thankyou
I make these as eclairs and they are lovely but flat
Are there any tips to ensure they rise more
This sounds like they are maybe deflating after they have baked? This means they may be sweating slightly so make sure to pierce the holes in the bottom super quick to prevent this! x
Can you freeze your profiteroles and keep in advance?
Yes absolutely you can freeze these for up to 3 months. Enjoy! x
Just wondering, as my sister can’t take normal cream, will Soya cream work as I have started noticing this in some popular shops. Any ideas on Mascarpone too?
Profiteroles were her favorite and the only thing she misses!
I made her the Nutella cupcakes earlier this year & she loved them. So for Christmas dessert having batch of Ferrero Rocher brownies will be nice. Your recipes
give all of us lots of tasty treats to munch on all year round! lol
If can pull the Profiteroles off for her, she’ll completely love it & for once its something that will look practically the same as ours & is safe for her to eat! 😀
This is probably near impossible but worth an ask.
Thanks ,
Lee
Hi Jane, I was wondering can you use a stand alone electric mixer with a paddle attachments to add the eggs or would it be better to use a spoon?
Ella
I would just use the spoon!
Hi Jane,
I love your blog soooo much!
I had a question, will these go soft if i make in the morning to serve in the evening?
Thanks
Nimisha
They’ll soften slightly once filled as with any profiterole, but they will still be fine! x
What type of vanilla do you use in this recipe?
I use vanilla extract, or vanilla bean extract!
Can i use Margarine instead of unsalted?
I chose to make these with my six year old daughter, and other than adding the flour to the boiling liquid, she was able to do everything, and there were enough stages to keep her engaged. The end result was fabulous, pillow like profiteroles, moreish cream filling and a ridiculously delicious chocolate ‘sauce’. I used half 70% chocolate, half milk and it was a lovely mix. Sprinkled with smarties and they looked amazing.
Hi, can they be frozen once filled with the cream mixture?
Yes they can!
Hi Jane,
What size are your little rounds?
Thank you.
Maybe about an inch or so?
I have never been brave enough to try profiteroles before but I thought I would try your recipe as lots of your other recipes are perfect and they were amazing!! I don’t really like store bought profiteroles but I definitely love homemade ones. Thank you ☺️ xx
Hi Jane,
I made these and all but three of them stuck to the greaseproof paper! Do you know why/how I can stop this happening in future?
Thank you!
It may just be the paper you are using as mine have never stuck and they come off really easily when baked! X
Can they be frozen before filling so you can make them in advance and defrost when ready? I’m thinking for Christmas 😁
You can, but they may need putting into the oven for a little bit to crisp up again!
How long do they keep unfilled? I’m baking today but not filling till tomorrow
Many thanks
They can last about 2 days, in the fridge!
Hi, just wondering what these are meant to look and feel like in the middle once cooked? Thanks
Once baked they will be an empty shell basically – the colouring of the shell you can see in the photos on the outside!
Mine were a little soggy in the middle, do you no what could of caused this please? Thank you
That probably means they just needed a bit longer! Make sure to pierce the hole in the bottom as soon as you can though so that they don’t sweat as that can also cause it! x
Stumbled across your blog- I’m so glad I did! Made these for the first time with this recipe and I can’t believe they worked, will be making these again 😊
Awh yay!! I’m so glad you liked them!!
Hi, I was wondering where you found the freeze dried raspberries that you’ve used to decorate in the picture? I’ve been looking all over for some and can’t seem to find them anywhere! Much appreciated if you could let me know. Thanks!
I’ve bought them in Waitrose, Sainsburys and Lakeland – and also online!
I loved profiteroles and always wanted to make them…so with this lockdown I’ve now had the time to finally make them, I stumbled across your recipe and love it Xx.
Ahh yay!! It’s 100% worth it isn’t it! x