There are few things in life as delightful as biting into homemade profiteroles! Crispy hollow choux pastry balls filled with custard or cream then drizzled with chocolate, these are a terrific small-bite dessert option for gatherings.
The pastry shells can be made days, even months in advance. And one batch makes almost 50 profiteroles!!
Profiteroles
Profiteroles are a hazard. It is way too easy to inhale an indecent amount in one sitting.
I exaggerate not. Because unlike many desserts, profiteroles seem so light rather than heavy and overly sweet.
Combine that with the fact that they are so small, you can easily swipe one without anyone noticing as you casually stroll past the pile (yet again…), and you don’t even need to break stride as you bite into it. Or better yet, if you can manage the whole thing in one bite…
For the record, I cannot.
I am a Two-Bite-Profiterole gal.
PROFITEROLE PASTRY = CHOUX PASTRY
Those crispy, light as air profiterole balls are called choux pastry balls. It’s French and it’s magical. 4 simple ingredients: butter, water, egg and flour. Mix, pipe (or even dollop), bake.
And whoosh! Those little innocent looking blobs of pastry puff up 5 or 6 times and they’re hollow inside, just begging to be filled with something tasty!
3 parts to profiteroles
Profiteroles are made up of 3 components:
1. The pastry balls (choux pastry) – crispy on the outside, hollow on the inside, ready to be filled with your Filling of choice!
2. Filling – there’s a few options here. Vanilla custard (Creme Patissiere) is the most common here in Australia – piped inside the balls. Cream is also a firm favourite – and also a good quicker filling option to making homemade custard. And then there’s profiteroles in the States which are split then stuffed with ice cream rather than piping a filling in. All are delish, but for me, profiteroles filled with custard will always be my favourite child. 😂
3. Chocolate Sauce – Drizzle or dip the profiteroles in the chocolate sauce. When it’s warm, it’s a chocolate sauce. When it cools, it sets to a soft chocolate – like the chocolate you get on eclairs at bakeries.
What goes in Choux pastry – profiterole pastry balls
Here’s all you need to make Choux pastry – eggs, butter, water and flour.
There’s no baking powder or other rising agent. The thing that makes choux pastry puff up is the large volume of water in the batter which evaporates into steam as it bakes, causing the protein in the egg to expand and puff up
How to make choux pastry – profiterole pastry
Choux pastry is really easy to make, it’s just a little different to the usual cake batters so there’s a couple of things to be aware of:
After mixing the water, butter and flour, remove from the stove to cool for 10 minutes before adding the egg, otherwise the heat will cook the egg and prevent the choux pastry from rising; and
Add the egg one at a time and mix well in between. The dough will split initially, but after a bit of vigorous mixing, it will come together.
Though I’ve used a piping bag for the dough, you can even just use 2 teaspoons to drop little dollops of the dough onto baking trays!
TIP: For nice round profiteroles, pat down any peaks with your finger and even push wonky blobs into nice, even dome shapes. The more even the shape of the blobs, the more round and pro looking your balls will be.
How to bake choux pastry for profiteroles
A key step in making profiteroles is the double bake of the pastry balls. The pastry balls cook through and puff up in the first bake. Then the balls are pierced and returned to the oven for a second bake to dry out the inside.
The reason this is an important step is to prolong the life of the profiteroles once filled with custard or cream. And it’s during the second bake that the balls become fabulously crispy!!
Cool, then pipe in custard or cream, drizzle with chocolate and they’re ready for serving.
Tips to ensure profiterole success
Profiteroles might look tricky and fancy, but they are actually very straightforward to make if you follow just 3 key tips:
1. Cool dough before adding eggs – this is key to ensure the heat from the dough doesn’t cook the eggs and so they incorporate properly when mixed together. The egg is the key to making the Choux pastry rise and become hollow;
2. Mix eggs in thoroughly – the dough will look like it splits when you start mixing the eggs in, but persist! The batter will come together – it needs to be smooth;
3. Don’t pierce until crispy – A key step is to remove the profiteroles partway through baking to pierce a hole in them, then return into the oven. This is to make them dry out and cook inside so they hold their shape (and so it’s not raw batter inside).
But you must ensure you DO NOT pierce them before the outside is crispy, otherwise the ball will collapse when you return it to the oven. The shell should take 15 minutes in a 180°C/350°F oven to become crispy, but if your oven runs a bit weak (or not preheated long enough or you kept door open too long and let heat escape etc etc) then you may need to keep them in for slightly longer.
Watch the recipe video at 57 seconds and you will see that when I puncture a hole in the ball, the surface cracks around the hole, indicating that the shell is crisp.
TOP TIP to ensure success: read the recipe from start to finish, look at the step photos above and watch the short recipe video!
Profiterole troubleshooting
The most common problem that people run into with profiteroles is that they don’t rise, don’t rise enough, are soggy or they collapse – either during the 2nd bake (after puncturing a hole) or after taking them out of the oven.
All these can occur due to the same factors (all of which can be avoided if you follow my recipe as written!!):
Batter is too runny – when you pipe blobs, if it spreads out rather than sitting up (as shown in the step photos above and video below), this means the batter is too runny and therefore the profiterole balls will not rise. The batter can only be too runny if you mis-measured the ingredients. In particular, ensure you are using the correct size eggs;
The eggs were not incorporated properly – when you add the eggs, mix mix mix until the batter is smooth again. If the batter is split, it means the eggs are not mixed in properly = balls won’t rise (because it is the eggs that make profiteroles rise)
Pierced balls before they were crispy – if you pierce the balls before they are crispy and can hold their shape, then they will collapse during the second bake;
Forgot to pierce!! If you do not pierce the balls, then the inside will never cook / dry out. Soggy insides = collapsed profiteroles.
MAKE AHEAD –> TAKE TO GATHERINGS
All the components can be prepared ahead separately then assembled closer to serving. The pastry balls can even be made months in advance and stored in the freezer. Just a few minutes in a cranked up oven is all that’s required to make the shells crispy again!!!
Imagine being the person who brings a pile of profiteroles like this to a gathering….
The praise! The flattery! You will steal the show!! 😂
Truthfully though, I took profiteroles on a weekend away with friends recently. And what I described above ↑↑↑ is exactly how I did it. I took a giant container filled with the balls, a piping bag filled with the custard and the chocolate sauce in a tub.
Then I crisped the shells in the oven very briefly. Piped in the custard, warmed the chocolate, drizzled it over then served.
I swear I wasn’t trying to steal the show. I swear I wasn’t trying to show off. I just wanted to share these with my friends! 😂 ~ Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sometimes it helps to have a visual, so watch me make these Profiteroles! {Note: Separate video for custard will be published tomorrow}
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Profiteroles
Ingredients
Choux Pastry (profiterole pastry balls):
- 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup flour , plain / all purpose
- 4 large eggs 55 – 60g / 2 oz each (weight with shell), at room temperature
- Pinch of salt
Filling Options (choose one):
- Vanilla custard (Creme Patissiere) (below)
- Ice cream (Note 1)
- Whipped cream (Note 2)
Thick Custard Filling (Creme Patissiere):
- 4 egg yolks (Note 5 for using leftover whites)
- 1/4 cup white sugar , caster / superfine
- 3 1/2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 2 1/3 cups milk , full fat best
- 1/4 cup extra white sugar , caster / superfine
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract or essence)
Chocolate Sauce (Note 3):
- 250g / 8 oz dark chocolate (or US semi-sweet)
- 1 cup cream
Instructions
- Simmer butter & water: Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When mostly melted, add water then bring to a rapid simmer.
- Add flour: While liquid is simmering, add flour and pinch of salt, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon (still on stove) until the dough forms sort of a ball and pulls away from the sides of the saucepan (see video). About 1 minute.
- Cool: Remove from heat and let mixture cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 220°C/420°F (200°C fan).
- Prepare trays: Lightly grease 2 large or 3 standard baking trays with butter, then line with paper. (Grease stops paper sliding)
- Add egg into cool dough: Add 1 egg into batter, beat until combined. Add remaining eggs one at a time making sure each is combined before adding the next. Dough should be like a thick paste (see video).
- Transfer to piping bag: Place dough into a piping bag fitted with a 13 – 15mm round tip (1/2 – 3/5").
- Pipe blobs: Pipe 2 tsp blobs 5cm/2" apart (I do 16 on each tray). Makes 40 – 50 blobs.
- Pat down peak: Wet your finger with water and pat down any peaks to form domes (for nice round balls).
- Bake 2 trays at a time for 15 minutes, switching the trays halfway.
- Remove from oven, reduce heat to 180°C/35°0F (160°C fan). They should be crispy enough that when pierced, they will not collapse – if not, return to oven for 3 minutes.
- Pierce balls with knife then return to oven for 5 – 7 minutes until golden and crispy.
- Cool & fill: Transfer to rack, cool fully before filling with custard, cream or split then fill with ice cream. Drizzle with chocolate and serve!
Chocolate topping:
- Place cream and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 4 x 30 seconds, stirring in between, until incorporated. Cool to warm, then use for drizzling or dipping.
Custard filling:
- Whisk yolks and sugar, then whisk in cornflour.
- Place milk, vanilla and extra sugar in a saucepan over medium high. Heat until just before simmering.
- Whisk in 1/4 cup hot milk into egg mixture. Whisk in another 1/4 cup. Then add remaining milk mixture and whisk.
- Pour back into saucepan. Return to stove on medium low (low for strong stoves). Whisk constantly 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture thicks to a thick dolloping custard consistency.
- Remove from heat immediately, pour into bowl. Press cling wrap onto surface (stops skin forming) then refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours until set. Do not whisk again once set (loses thickness).
- Spoon into piping bag fitting with a very fine nozzle. Then pipe into profiteroles (use the hole pierced during bake, or make a new hole).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
His giant paws fit perfectly in my size 6 thongs……
Mine deflated.. What do I do?
Hi! Did they deflate when you took them out of the oven? They may just need slightly longer to set. N x
Hi, making these for tomorrow, can i make the custard sauce today and keep it in the fridge overnight to pipe in tomorrow, or does it have to be done on the same day? Thanks
Yes 100% – it’s perfect to make in advance! N x
Hi! I would like to know what do you mean by “cream” in the chocolate sauce recipe
Hi Miranda, thickened cream is used here. N x
Hello! Thank you for sharing all your recipes, they always work for me 😍 just a question though, would using normal sugar work the same as caster sugar for making the custard?
Here’s how to make caster sugar:
For every 1 cup of caster sugar that your recipe calls for, add 1 cup plus two teaspoons of granulated sugar to a clean coffee or spice grinder, food processor, or blender.
Grind the granulated sugar for only a few seconds, until the sugar is finer in texture, but it is not fine enough to form a powder that starts to clump together.
For added precision, run your homemade caster sugar through a fine strainer before adding it to your recipe. I used to buy superfine sugar when I lived in the big city. Now that I live in a rural area I just find it easier to make my own.
So easy!!
Fabulous. Creme patisserie and Choux pastry turned out perfectly (questionable piping skills though so not the prettiest!). So thrilled that my first attempt at choux was with your recipe ❤️❤️❤️
As long as they tasted great Reena – that’s all that matters! N x
Hi, I enjoyed following the recipe and the photos and tips were great for the choux pastry!
However, I did not enjoy the texture of the crème pat at all. Mine also came out of the fridge like rubber and I made it a bit more manageable by giving it a stir. However, it still wasn’t the best.
Hi Virginia, sorry you had issues here – sounds like it may of been heated too long and gone too thick! N x
this is sooo helpful thank you
OMG your a life saver nagi🙏🏻
Can’t give it stars as I haven’t made them yet. But you list sugar twice in the custard filling so I’m not sure if it’s a typo or you use that much sugar?
Hi Zoe – If you read the method, there are two stages in which the sugar is added. I hope you give it a shot and love it! N x
Oh my word! That creme patissiere is absolutely delicious. I would happily eat that by itself! I only had trouble with it not being thick enough because I read too many comment that people had there’s come out so thick it took 2 people to pipe it. I just want to say that the recipe is spot on and those who say it was too thick must have not measured the cornflour properly and used too much. I on the other hand used a little touch less n had it running out the piping bag thats after it was refrigerated overnight. I had trouble with my choux pastry not rising much. Some did, some did not. But it was still all totally delicious. Thanks for another show stopping recipe.
I hear ya Miri, some always “accidentally” falls into my mouth 😂!! sorry you had issues with the rising of your choux, I’m not sure why some rose for you while others did not, but I’m glad you enjoyed them anyway ❤️
I made these in advance yesterday to have today. All the components seperate ready for filling. Pasty balls looked great custard tasted great but was so firm. It was almost impossible to pipe. We managed with two of us doing it but I wonder what I may have done wrong with the custard? Have you heard of this happening? I could have picked up the slab of custard and bounced it like a rubber ball. Too much corn flour? They were still a hit but I’m a bit of a perfectionist and want to make them again. Hope you had a merry Xmas. I also made your Pav and it was unbelievable!!!! First Pav for me and I was so happy with the outcome.
Hello Nagi! Love your recipes! I am however not understanding your instructions on the custard. When do I add the egg/ hot milk mixture in with the stovetop mixture? Sorry!🤷🤦🤣
Hi Rachel, first whisk the ingredients listed in step 1 in a bowl – on the stove you’ll have your milk, vanilla and extra sugar until just before simmering. Then mix 1/4 cup of milk at a time into the bowl where your egg mixture is. Once all incorporated, you’ll transfer it back to the pot and place back over the heat. – N x
your real big help nagi 🤘🏼thanks and a great cook thanks girl
Oh shucks! ☺️
Hi, planning to make these for Christmas. How long could the filled profiteroles last before serving them?
I would only cover in chocolate right before serving
Hi Grace, I prefer to keep the custard separate from the pastry to keep them fresh. Once filled they will last a couple of hours – N x
Going to try making these, they look amazing! Are the calories based on 1 profiterole? Or are there more than one in a serving?
Terrific profiterole recipe. Mine turned out perfectly.
Very helpful video for first timers,
Great stuff,
Many thanks
That’s great to hear Mark!!
My profiteroles turned up absolutely perfect on the first attempt! Had to extend second bake by about 2 min but other than that the recepie is spot on!! thank you:)
Wahoo! That’s awesome to hear Maria!
thanks Nagi
You’re so welcome Milan!
so you put the custard in the fridge for 5 hours right or 6
Hi Caity – 4-5 hours or until set as per step 5 🙂