After mastering the choux pastry with the gougères, I experimented with a sweet version of these decadent puffs and I am happy to present you the profiteroles!
Profiteroles is a French pastry classic. They are little sweet puffs made with choux pastry, filled with ice cream and topped with chocolate.
Ingredients (makes about 15 choux and lots of leftover chocolate sauce):
Choux:
* 1/4 cup water
* 1/4 cup soy milk
* 2 oz vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)
* 3 oz bread flour (*)
* 1/2 cup Just Egg
* 1/4 cup soy milk (to mix with the Just Egg)
* 1/2 tsp sugar
* 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
* 3 oz vegan shredded cheese (I use Violife mozzarella shreds)
(*) All purpose flour can be used but the puffs will be less airy. Einkorn all-purpose flour also works well, but needs to be sifted first as it tends to clump more.
Chocolate sauce:
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 6 Tbsp maple syrup
* 6 tablespoons oat milk
Ice cream:
* vegan vanilla ice cream
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F.
Note that you will want to follow this recipe pretty closely as there is lots of science behind choux pastry.
1) Start choux dough.
Put water, soy milk, and butter in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Mix until the butter dissolves. Add the flour all at once. Turn the heat to low. Mix until the flour is completely incorporated. The dough will dry and start forming a ball and come off the sides of the pot easily.
Put the dough into a bowl to cool to room temperature. To speed up the cooling, flatten the dough and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Important: This cooling phase is critical, otherwise the eggs will start cooking when added to the dough. The eggs should only start cooking in the oven.
2) Prepare the egg mixture.
Mix in a small bowl the soy milk, Just Egg, sugar, and vanilla extract.
3) Finish choux dough.
Once the dough is at room temperature, add the egg mixture a few spoons at a time. Mix until fully incorporated. Repeat until all the egg mixture is incorporated.
4) Form and bake the puffs.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pipe the dough in small mounds, about 2" wide and 1" high using a pastry bag with a round tip. Bake until puffs are evenly golden brown. It takes about 30-35 minutes.
Important: Do not open the oven door while baking! This will deflate the puffs. Turn on the oven light to check on their color in the final few minutes of baking.
5) Chocolate sauce (from My Quiet Kitchen).
In a small sauce pan stir together the cocoa powder, vanilla, maple syrup, and oat milk. Simmer the mixture over low heat for 2 minutes, until thick and creamy.
Note that this could be done a day in advance and kept in the fridge. Simply rewarm when ready to use.
6) Assemble.
Once the puffs are cooled, slice them in half with a sharp knife. Sandwich a small scoop of ice cream in each puff. Top with the chocolate sauce.
Serve immediately.
Bon appétit!