Profiteroles
Prep Time 20 minutes 
Cook Time 35 minutes 
Total Time 55 minutes 
Servings 6Ingredients
For the profiteroles
- 125 ml whole milk
- 125 ml water
- 100 gr unsalted butter
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 140 gr plain flour sifted
- 4 egg at room temperature
For the homemade whipped cream filling
- 300 ml Double cream chilled
- 30 gr icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the chocolate ganache
- 200 gr dark chocolate 65% cacao, chopped
- 200 ml Double cream
Equipment
Instructions
1. Make the choux pastry
- Place the water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat, add all the flour at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
2. Cool slightly and add eggs
- Transfer the dough to a bowl or mixer. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the dough is smooth and glossy. The dough should fall in a thick ribbon from the spoon.
3. Pipe and bake
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Pipe small mounds (about 3-4 cm diameter) onto the lined baking tray, spacing well apart. Smooth any peaks with a wet finger. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 165°C (325°F) and bake for another 20-25 minutes until golden and puffed. Avoid opening the oven during baking.
4. Cool
- Remove from the oven and pierce each puff with a skewer to let steam escape. Cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Make the homemade whipped cream
- Pour the chilled double cream into a large, cold mixing bowl. Add the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, the cream should be light, fluffy, and hold its shape but still be smooth. Be careful not to overwhisk or else you will get butter!
6. Prepare chocolate ganache
- Heat the double cream gently until just boiling. Pour over the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Let sit for 2-3 minutes, then whisk until smooth and glossy.
7. Assemble
- Slice each profiterole in half horizontally. Spoon or pipe a generous dollop of the homemade whipped cream into the base and replace the top. Drizzle generously with warm chocolate ganache just before serving!
Notes
- For the best profiteroles, drying the dough well on the stove before adding eggs is crucial as it ensures a light, hollow puff that won’t collapse.
- When piping, keep the sizes even so they bake consistently. Avoid opening the oven door during baking to prevent sudden temperature drops that can deflate the puffs.
- Using chilled cream straight from the fridge helps the whipped cream hold its shape longer.
- Assemble the profiteroles just before serving to keep the pastry crisp and the cream fresh.
- If you want to prepare ahead, bake the choux shells in advance and freeze them; reheat briefly in the oven before filling and serving.
About this recipe
I don’t think I need to introduce profiteroles. Nor do I need to convince you these are a real treat. I’ve been eating them my whole life, as a tower or a couple too many on my plate. They are light and satisfying at the same time. They start with the same choux pastry as chouquettes, which are super airy, but these get filled with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate ganache. Do I need to say more?
Where profiteroles come from
The history is interesting, because profiteroles were not always a dessert. In the 16th century the word “profiterolle” referred to a small reward given to servants, literally a “little profit.” It was a small ball of bread dough, cooked under hot ash, that could be dipped into broth. From there it evolved into something closer to what we’d call a savoury filled pastry, small hollow buns stuffed with ragout, sweetbreads, truffles, and mushrooms.
The sweet version we know today actually came later. Choux pastry began developing as a technique in the 17th century, with the pastry chef Jean Avice refining it further in the mid-18th century. It was Antonin Carême in the 19th century who developed the recipe used today, filling the choux with cream and putting them at the heart of French pâtisserie. The chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream version appeared around 1875, and that combination is essentially what’s still served in every French brasserie today.
The croquembouche connection
The French profiteroles reach their most spectacular form in the croquembouche, the towering cone of choux buns bound with caramel that you will often see on photos at the centre of French wedding tables and anniversaries. The name means “crunches in the mouth,” a reference to the set caramel coating each bun. If you marry a French person, this is what appears instead of a tiered cake. It’s more impressive but considerably more difficult to eat elegantly! I speak from experience.
Choux pastry for profiteroles
The choux pastry for profiteroles is the same dough used for éclairs, Paris-Brest, chouquettes, gougères, and that croquembouche. It’s one of the foundations of French pâtisserie, and once you understand it you can make a huge proportion of that classical pastry repertoire.
What makes choux unusual is that the dough is cooked twice. First in a saucepan on the hob, where the flour cooks in the hot butter and water, and then in the oven, where the steam trapped inside causes it to puff up and hollow out from within. Surprisingly, there’s no raising agent in the preparation. The steam is the raising agent, and that’s why you absolutely cannot open the oven door during baking!
The dough needs to be the right consistency before it goes into the piping bag. Too wet and the buns spread flat instead of rising. Too dry and they don’t hollow out properly. The test is simple: the dough should fall from a spoon in a smooth, thick ribbon. If it drops in lumps it needs more egg. If it pours, it has too much.
The choux pastry for profiteroles is the same dough used for éclairs, Paris-Brest, gougères, and the croquembouche that towers over French wedding tables. It is one of the foundational preparations in French pâtisserie, and understanding it opens up a significant proportion of the classical pastry repertoire.
What makes choux unusual is the technique. The dough is cooked twice: first in a saucepan on the hob, where the flour gelatinises in the hot water and butter, then in the oven, where the steam trapped inside the dough causes it to puff up and hollow out. There is no raising agent. The steam is the raising agent.
The dough needs to be the right consistency before it goes into the piping bag. Too wet and the buns spread flat rather than rising. Too dry and the steam cannot build up enough pressure to hollow them properly. The test is the ribbon test: the dough should fall from a spoon in a smooth, thick ribbon. If it drops in chunks it needs more egg and if it pours it has too much.
The filling
My all-time favourite filling for profiteroles is whipped cream, cold and lightly sweetened. It works better with the warm chocolate in my opinion than pastry cream, which is also delicious but richer and a bit heavier. Ice cream is the filling used in many French restaurant versions, where the contrast between the cold filling and the warm chocolate ganache is even more pronounced. All are good, it just depends on your personal taste buds.
Whatever you use, fill the profiteroles as close to serving as possible. Filled choux softens quickly as the moisture from the filling migrates into the pastry. Unfilled choux buns can be made ahead and kept in an airtight container, or frozen and refreshed in a hot oven for a few minutes before filling.
How to make French profiteroles
Consistent profiteroles need consistent sizing, and consistent sizing means piping rather than spooning. I use the De Buyer piping bag for all my choux pastry pastries. The bag handles the warm, fairly stiff dough without splitting under pressure, and the control it gives means each bun comes out the same size. I pair it with the DeBuyer nozzles that I got for my birthday from my hudband and the combination works perfectly for all my creations.
For these dessert profiterole, you need the Ø1cm plain nozzle.
How to eat profiteroles
The question is more, how to resist not eating them straight away? When the chocolate ganache is still warm and the pastry is still crisp. If you leave profiteroles for half an hour, they’ll still be good of course, but they won’t be the same thing. The contrast between warm chocolate, cold cream, and crisp choux is what makes them special, and it only exists for a short window after assembly. Which is not a problem at all in our house!
And if you want to serve them as a showstopper for a dinner party, stack them into a small tower on each plate and pour the warm ganache over at the table in front of people. It’s simple, it looks dramatic, and it always gets a reaction.
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