There are few things in life as delightful as biting into homemade profiteroles! Crispy hollow pastry balls filled with custard or cream then drizzled with chocolate, these are a terrific small-bite dessert option for gatherings.
The pastry shells can be made days, even months in advance. And one batch makes almost 50 profiteroles!!
Profiteroles are a hazard. It is way too easy to inhale an indecent amount in one sitting.
I exaggerate not. Because unlike many desserts, profiteroles seem so light rather than heavy and overly sweet.
Combine that with the fact that they are so small, you can easily swipe one without anyone noticing as you casually stroll past the pile (yet again…), and you don’t even need to break stride as you bite into it. Or better yet, if you can manage the whole thing in one bite…
For the record, I cannot.
I am a Two-Bite-Profiterole gal.
THE DNA OF PROFITEROLES
Profiteroles are made up of 3 components:
1. The pastry balls – crispy on the outside, hollow on the inside, ready to be filled with your Filling of choice!
2. Filling – there’s a few options here. Vanilla custard is the most common here in Australia – piped inside the balls. Cream is also a firm favourite – and also a good quicker filling option to making homemade custard. And then there’s profiteroles in the States which are split then stuffed with ice cream rather than piping a filling in. All are delish, but for me, profiteroles filled with custard will always be my favourite child. 😂
3. Chocolate Sauce – Drizzle or dip the profiteroles in the chocolate sauce. When it’s warm, it’s a chocolate sauce. When it cools, it sets to a soft chocolate – like the chocolate you get on eclairs at bakeries.
PROFITEROLE PASTRY – CHOUX PASTRY
Those crispy, light as air profiterole balls are called choux pastry balls. It’s French and it’s magical. 4 simple ingredients: butter, water, egg and flour. Mix, pipe (or even dollop), bake.
And whoosh! Those little innocent looking blobs of pastry puff up 5 or 6 times and they’re hollow inside, just begging to be filled with something tasty!
Though I’ve used a piping bag for the dough, you can even just use 2 teaspoons to drop little dollops of the dough onto baking trays!
TIP: For nice round profiteroles, pat down any peaks with your finger and even push wonky blobs into nice, even dome shapes. The more even the shape of the blobs, the more round and pro looking your balls will be.
PIERCE AND DOUBLE BAKE THE BALLS
A key step in making profiteroles is the double bake of the pastry balls. The pastry balls cook through and puff up in the first bake. Then the balls are pierced and returned to the oven for a second bake to dry out the inside.
The reason this is an important step is to prolong the life of the profiteroles once filled with custard or cream. And it’s during the second bake that the balls become fabulously crispy!!
Cool, then pipe in custard or cream, drizzle with chocolate and they’re ready for serving.
MAKE AHEAD –> TAKE TO GATHERINGS
All the components can be prepared ahead separately then assembled closer to serving. The pastry balls can even be made months in advance and stored in the freezer. Just a few minutes in a cranked up oven is all that’s required to make the shells crispy again!!!
Imagine being the person who brings a pile of profiteroles like this to a gathering….
The praise! The flattery! You will steal the show!! 😂
Truthfully though, I took profiteroles on a weekend away with friends recently. And what I described above ↑↑↑ is exactly how I did it. I took a giant container filled with the balls, a piping bag filled with the custard and the chocolate sauce in a tub.
Then I crisped the shells in the oven very briefly. Piped in the custard, warmed the chocolate, drizzled it over then served.
I swear I wasn’t trying to steal the show. I swear I wasn’t trying to show off. I just wanted to share these with my friends! 😂 ~ Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sometimes it helps to have a visual, so watch me make these Profiteroles! {Note: Separate video for custard will be published tomorrow}
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Profiteroles
Ingredients
Choux Pastry (profiterole pastry balls):
- 100 g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup / 250ml water
- 1 cup / 150g flour , plain / all purpose
- 4 eggs 55 - 60g / 1.9-2.1oz each with shell, at room temperature
- Pinch of salt
Filling Options (choose one):
- Custard (below)
- Ice cream (Note 1)
- Whipped cream (Note 2)
Thick Custard Filling (Creme Patissiere):
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup / 55g white sugar , caster / superfine
- 1/2 cup / 80 g cornflour / cornstarch
- 600 ml / 2 1/3 cups milk , full fat best
- 1/4 cup / 55g extra white sugar , caster / superfine
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract or essence)
Chocolate Sauce (Note 3):
- 250 g / 8 oz dark chocolate (or US semi-sweet)
- 1 cup / 250 ml cream
Instructions
- Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When mostly melted, add water then bring to a rapid simmer.
- While liquid is simmering, add flour and pinch of salt, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon (still on stove) until the dough forms sort of a ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan (see video). About 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and let mixture cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 220C/420F (standard) or 200C/390F (fan/convection).
- Lightly grease 2 large or 3 standard baking trays with butter, then line with paper. (Grease stops paper sliding)
- Add 1 egg into batter, beat until combined. Add remaining eggs one at a time making sure each is combined before adding the next. Dough should be like a thick paste (see video).
- Place dough into a piping bag fitted with a 13 - 15mm round tip (1/2 - 3/5").
- Pipe 2 tsp blobs (about 1.7 cm/ 2/3" blob base) 5cm/2" apart (I do 16 on each tray). Makes 40 - 50 blobs.
- Wet your finger with water and pat down any peaks to form domes (for nice round balls).
- Bake 2 trays at a time for 15 minutes, switching the trays halfway.
- Remove from oven, reduce heat to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan).
- Pierce balls with knife then return to oven for 5 - 7 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Transfer to rack, cool fully before filling with custard, cream or split then fill with ice cream. Drizzle with chocolate and serve!
Chocolate:
- Place cream and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 4 x 30 seconds, stirring in between, until incorporated. Cool to warm, then use for drizzling or dipping.
Custard:
- Whisk yolks and sugar, then whisk in cornflour.
- Place milk, vanilla and extra sugar in a saucepan over medium high. Heat until just before simmering.
- Whisk in 1/4 cup hot milk into egg mixture. Whisk in another 1/4 cup. Then add remaining milk mixture and whisk.
- Pour back into saucepan. Return to stove on medium low (low for strong stoves). Whisk constantly 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture thicks to a thick dolloping custard consistency.
- Remove from heat immediately, pour into bowl. Press cling wrap onto surface (stops skin forming) then refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours until set. Do not whisk again once set (loses thickness).
- Spoon into piping bag fitting with a very fine nozzle. Then pipe into profiteroles (use the hole pierced during bake, or make a new hole).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition
LIFE OF DOZER
His giant paws fit perfectly in my size 6 thongs……
ALSO, I was wondering when the video for the custard would go up? I’m making the choux tonight!
Looks so delicious!!!! If I want to make the custard in advance – ie if it’s for lunch I am thinking of making the custard the night before to allow it to set. Will it be very hard if it’s in the fridge for more than 4 hours? Should I whip it again to loosen it? Thinking of making this for this Christmas!:) thank you and merry Christmas!
Hi Nagi! Was thinking about doing this for Christmas Lunch!!
Any thoughts or tips about presentation to make it look “wow”? Or perhaps a quick “how-to” on how to assemble these into a Croquembouche? Ta!!
Hi Mai, I was actually looking at posting a croquembouche -it’s still in the works!
Woohoo that’d be great Nagi! But in the interim, what’s t he best way to present them? Just stack them all on top of each other and pour over the chocolate sauce?
I made them for the first time last night with your custard filling! Wow I was popular in my house, absolutely delicious and such an easy recipe to follow!! Thank you!
I bet you were the favourite! So glad they were a hit!
Hi Nagi,
My batter was absolutely runny . I followed the recipe exactly the way you had mentioned.
Can you help me
Hi Mayanka, it shouldn’t be runny – it could be the size of the eggs you are using
Can you fill them with a savory like whipped cream cheese and herbs?
YUM that would be AMAZING!!!
I love your style of those profiteroles so much! Frankly, I wanted to make these for ages but never found a proper recipe. Reading your recipe encouraged me to make as soon as possible!!
– Natalie
Thanks Natalie! Hope you get a chance to try it! N x
Oh, and p.s., I did not butter the pans and as I said they turned out great!!
I have never in my life 78 years made a successful cream puff or profiterole! This was definitely the exception. I followed the recipe you gave, and being in the US I measured the flour as 1 cup; then I saw you also gave grams so I got out my scale and low and behold I needed to add several more tablespoons of flour to equal 150g!! And, for the first time ever I got beautiful puffed up little balls. Thanks for sharing, Nagi, from me, my husband, and all our Thanksgiving guests. Oh, and my husband wouldn’t let me pat down the little points — he says they are the best part because they get all extra crispy. 😆
MUST KEEP THOSE CRIPY POINY BITS!! 😂 So thrilled you enjoyed these so much! N x
Nagi, why do I have to butter the baking pans when I am going to use parchment paper to line them? I like using the paper to make clean up easier and to ensure the pastry doesn’t stick to the pan. If I butter the pan then it pretty much defeats the easy clean up!
Hi Donna! It’s to stop the paper from slipping. 🙂 I find it really annoying to try to pip when the paper keeps sliding around!! Great question though, I will update the recipe N x
Well I sure have not stolen the show! They have turned out flat. Looks like I will coat them in chocolate and hide them.
I will persevere and make some more (Not Today) and see how they turn out. Nagi do you know what I’ve done wrong?
Oh no Kerry! I’m sorry to hear that. The key step that’s important is to ensure the butter and water are SIMMERING when the flour is added. Was it simmering??
I don’t know what went wrong, but I followed the recipe exactly and the batter was very liquid. I had to put in muffin tins but cooked it anyway. They did puff up but fell again immediately Any suggestions?
I literally check your website almost everyday. Have made sooooo many of your recipes and never been disappointed! These look amazing! Will definitely try
I’m so pleased you are enjoying my recipes Alice!! Thanks for your lovely message! N x
My Mum used to make these! I will have to give it a try because I love a good eclair… (you can totally cheat a little bit and use store bought custard if you have to, though, right?! Or chocolate mousse Dairy Whip?!?!)
PS. I have those exact same Havianas! 🙂
Yeah but I bet you have normal size not tiny size 6!!! 😂 Yep you can totally cheat with store bought or anything cream or mousse like that can be piped inside! N x
Hi Nagi
Fantastic finger food. A must try. I am really not a pastry to-do person, never comes out right, but this recipe looks simple.
As for Dozer, ohh dear. He clearly doesn’t seem bothered 😂😂
Have a great weekend. Hugs ….😊
This really is a terrific simple pastry recipe 🙂 Blobbing makes quick work out of it! 😂
some of my family dont like cream or custard could i fill them with chocolate mousse?
YES! What a great idea!
I love love love Profiteroles and I am a one bite kinda person.. Hehe.. These profiteroles looks so delicious..
Oh believe me, I try….
My dogger would never tolerate me manipulating her toes…[smelled like biscuits (lovely)]…but for a few seconds! Can’t ever imagine her allowing me to fit flip-flops! Dozer must be a very -back pooch!
Dozer hates it too!! To tease him I put food on his paws and it peeves him so much, he gets up and walks away WITHOUT eating the treats! 😂
I have just one word for you……. YUM! 😉
😇
hi Nagi, quick question, can you use hand held mixer when mixing the egg?
Hi Sherly! In all honesty, I tried it but I swear it’s easiest with a wooden spoon because the batter is quite thick 🙂 N x