06 July 2007

Profiteroles with Strawberry Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce

(Profiteroles aux Crême Glacée de Fraise et Sauce à Chocolat) FINALLY! The éclair recipe worked-- this time, I used Pichet Ong's recipe (which is very close to Pierre Hermé's, but with a different baking temperature and time). With the excess from a few more éclair shapes, I made cream puffs or profiteroles, then froze them as I realized I would not be able to finish all of them. Also, I still had chocolate sauce from the Strawberry Heart Tart that I made, which was stored in the freezer. (Recipe follows)
Strawberry Profiterole
There are pictures I took from the process, which is in a previous post on éclairs. The recipe is as follows:
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water, 2 tablespoons condensed milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 stick of unsalted butter to a rolling boil. Dump in 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Stir like mad with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes or so, until the dough mass is dry and a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan. Transfer to a large bowl and beat for 1 minute to release more steam. Add in about 4 (could be more) eggs, one at a time and beating furiously after each addition, until the batter comes together and takes about 7 seconds to fall from the beaters. The number of eggs is variable, because you don't want a runny dough, but a dough that's too stiff doesn't have enough eggs and won't rise well, which is why you have to check your dough after each egg is added.

Transfer to a piping bag with a 2/3 inch plain tip and pipe out shapes to your parchment-lined baking sheet-- 1.5 inch spheres for profiteroles and 4 inch rods for éclairs. Bake in a preheated 400°F (205°C) oven for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350°F (177°C) and bake for at least 20 minutes more, until golden brown and crispy. Don't open the oven door till at least the 30 minutes total cooking time has elapsed. When done, you can add insurance that they won't collapse by piercing a hole in the side or bottom of each to release steam. Once cool, they can be packed in ziploc bags and frozen for a month. Otherwise, keep at room temperature. However, once filled, they must be eaten ASAP or they will be soggy.

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