Chocolate Glazed Profiteroles with Pine Nuts
Pâte à choux profiteroles filled with cream, glazed in dark chocolate and pine nuts: the French shell that puffs on steam alone.
65 min
Medium
Francesa
4 servings
The story behind
The puff that makes a profiterole hollow comes from steam, not from any leavening powder. That is the magic of pâte à choux, a cornerstone of classic French pastry that is cooked twice. You first cook flour with water and butter in the pan, stirring until the paste pulls away from the bottom; this dries the starch and drives off moisture. Then eggs go in one at a time, building structure and trapping the steam that will inflate each shell from within, leaving it airy and empty. Often credited to Renaissance-era Italian and French cooks, this dough became the backbone of éclairs, croquembouches and these bite-sized treats. Here the shells are split and filled with cold whipped cream, glazed with melted dark chocolate, and finished with toasted pine nuts for a resinous crunch. Serve profiteroles the same day, since the crisp shell softens over time. The contrast of warm glaze against cold cream is exactly what makes them linger on a dessert table.
Instructions
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1Heat the water with the butter until it boils, add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously until a dough ball forms and pulls away from the sides.
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2Let the dough cool slightly and add the eggs one by one, beating well until the paste is glossy.
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3Using a pastry bag or two spoons, make small mounds on a baking sheet and bake at 200°C until golden and hollow inside.
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4Once cooled, slice them open and fill them with whipped cream (you can sweeten it to taste).
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5Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and drizzle it generously over the tops.
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6Finish with the pine nuts for that perfect crunch.
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