Profiteroles

If there are profiteroles on a menu, I will order them. I love them! (La Sirène in Soho has the best profiteroles - so chocolaty and rich.) Jamie's and my parents met for the first time last weekend, very exciting, and I decided on profiteroles for dessert. They're actually pretty easy - I've been making them since I was 12 - and always look impressive, and better still, taste amazing. This is a basic recipe, but feel free to jazz it up with peppermint ice cream instead of vanilla and crushed peppermints on top, or different flavors or ice cream, etc. Yum! (Also, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product covered in chocolate because of all the fun we were having at dinner - everyone got along, phew! - so you'll just have to imagine them covered in warm, gooey chocolate sauce.)

Serves 8
Ingredients:
vanilla ice cream, softened a little
3/4 cups water
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt and additional pinch of salt
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
9 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp instant coffee


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine 3/4 water, butter, sugar, and 1/8 tsp salt in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and stir until the butter melts.

Add the flour and stir over medium heat until the dough pulls away from the side of the pan and forms a ball, about 2 minutes. Cool 10 minutes,

Using an electric mixer, beat 3 eggs into the dough 1 at a time.

Transfer the dough into a zip lock bag (or a pastry bag if you have it) and cut the tip off, making your own pastry bag.

Pipe them into 16 mounds of dough on the sheet, about 2 inches apart. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl and brush the egg wash over the dough mounds - don't drip egg onto the sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350. Back them until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

With a skewer, pierce each pastry to let steam escape. Bake for another 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the chocolate sauce. Heat the cream until simmering but not boiling. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate, vanilla, salt, and coffee. Add more to taste. (The coffee brings out the chocolate flavor.)

When the profiteroles have cooled, cut off the top of each and hollow them out a little.

Scoop the softened ice cream into the profiterole bottom and put the cap on top. If you're not eating them right away, put them in the freezer. Otherwise, plate 2 profiteroles per person and douse liberally with the chocolate sauce. Enjoy and take compliments about your baking prowess.