Profiteroles are a French pastry dessert which are filled with ice cream and served with warm chocolate sauce. Kind of a grown-up ice cream sandwich. The dough, called pate a choux or choux pastry, is easy to make even for beginners. The pastry dough is formed into round mounds onto a baking sheet. While baking, it puffs up creating big air bubbles, that form the inner space to be filled.
Choux Pastry Dough
1 cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
pinch of kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Heat the milk, butter and pinch of salt over medium heat until the milk is scalded, and the butter is melted. Add in the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes, until it comes together to form a dough. The flour will begin to coat the bottom of the pan.
Transfer the hot flour mixture to a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse 2-3 times to disperse some of the heat. Add the eggs and pulse until the eggs are incorporated into the dough and the mixture is thick and smooth.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Secure the parchment paper by placing a tiny bit of dough on each corner of the baking sheet, pressing the paper to stick to the dough. This step will keep the paper in place and prevent it from sliding.
Working with the 2 prepared baking sheets, pipe the dough into mounds, spacing about an inch apart, or you can use 2 spoons to scoop out the dough and shape into round mounds. With a wet finger, lightly press out any tips or peaks to create a smooth surface top.
Place each baking sheet into the preheated oven. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating the pans, halfway through the baking time. Turn off the oven, allow the puffs to remain in the oven for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Make a small slit in the side of each puff to allow the steam to escape.
Chocolate Sauce
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon cognac (optional)
Place the cream into a small saucepan. Over medium-high heat, heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Remove from the heat.
Place the chopped chocolate into a heat-proof bowl. Add the honey to the chocolate. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let the mixture sit for 30 seconds allowing the chocolate to begin to melt. Whisk the mixture until smooth. Add the teaspoon of cognac, if using, whisk to combine.
To make the profiteroles: Cut the profiterole puff in half across the middle to create a top and a bottom. Fill the bottom half with a small scoop of ice cream. Replace the top and drizzle with warm chocolate sauce.