My mum had two or three trusted recipes that she always turned to when making dessert for guests, and these profiteroles (or cream puffs) were one of them. She would serve them dripping with chocolate sauce, and if we were very lucky, there would be some left over and in the morning we would eat them straight out of the fridge. Profiteroles were also a specialty of my brother, George, and he would make them specifically so he could bring them to school to share with his friends in the dorms. I like to fill the profiteroles with whipped cream and cover them with chocolate ganache, just like my mum did.
Makes 30 profiteroles
1 Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2 In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat.
3 Add the flour all at once and whisk vigorously to get out any lumps. Cook, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, for about 1 minute, until the dough pulls away from the side of the pan and forms a ball around your spoon. Remove from the heat.
4 Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Add a little bit of the eggs to the dough and, using a wooden spoon, quickly stir until the egg is combined (it will start out looking like a mess, but just keep stirring and it will come together). Add the remaining egg, a little at a time, until it’s all combined and the dough is smooth and shiny.
5 Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
6 Pipe the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets in 1½-inch rounds, leaving about 2 inches between them. Wet your finger and smooth out any peaks on the tops of the rounds, so the peaks don’t burn while baking.
7 Sprinkle some water over the cookie sheets (this will create steam in the oven, which will help the profiteroles rise).
8 Bake, without opening the oven door, for 12 to 15 minutes, until the profiteroles are golden brown all over and hollow-sounding when tapped. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. (If not serving immediately, store the unfilled profiteroles for 24 hours in an airtight container at room temperature.)
9 Put the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Push the tip into the bottom of a profiterole and fill it with whipped cream. Repeat to fill the remaining profiteroles.
10 Drizzle the profiteroles with the chocolate ganache. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours before serving.