Chocolate Balls of Goodness

For a treat over the weekend I asked my new hubby what he would like me to bake, he chose profiteroles so I used a cookbook he gave me for Christmas one year (Hotel Chocolat 101 Best Loved Chocolate Recipes) and made Terry Laybourne's Profiteroles with Hot Chocolate Sauce. It was a dead simple recipe with an impressive result.

The Recipe Terry Laybourne's Profiteroles with Hot Chocolate Sauce from Hotel Chocolat 101 Best Loved Chocolate Recipes

for the choux pastry

125ml water

125ml milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

100g unsalted butter

150g strong plain flour, sifted

4 eggs, beaten

for the filling

500ml vanilla or pistachio ice cream

for the chocolate sauce

100g dark chocolate

75ml milk

1 tbsp double cream

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp softened butter

The Method

To make the choux pastry, put the water, milk, salt, sugar and butter into a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil, take off the heat and immediately add all of the flour in one go, stirring well. return to the heat and beat vigorously until smooth. Continue cooking over a medium heat for a minute or two until the paste leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 3 minutes.

Weigh 200g of the beaten eggs. begin adding the egg to the mixture a little at a time, beating well between each addition. Once it is all incorporated, the choux pastry should be smooth, shiny and thick enough to pipe.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and grease a large baking tray. Put the choux pastry in a piping bag with a 12mm plain nozzle. Pipe 18 small mounds onto the baking tray, spacing them well apart. Bake for 10 minutes, lower the heat of the oven to 140 degrees C and bake for a further 20 minutes. transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the sauce, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. put the cream, milk and sugar into a pan. Bring to the boil. pour onto the melted chocolate, stirring well. return to the pan and bring just back to boil, take off the heat and whisk in the butter. Keep warm.

To assemble cut each choux bun in half and return to the oven for 3 minutes. Divide the choux bases between serving plates , allowing 3 per portion. Put a ball of ice cream on each base and top with the lids. Spoon hot chocolate sauce over the profiteroles and serve immediately.

I actually used fresh cream instead of ice cream and the turned out beautiful, the sauce is rich and delicious. I will be making this one again. I made my profiteroles slightly smaller and got more like 30 out of them.