After Eight Profiteroles

I originally made these for Best Home Cook and Mary Berry loved them!

Makes 18-24

Ingredients:

For the Choux pastry:

70g plain flour

Pinch of caster sugar

65ml milk

50g butter

2 eggs

60ml water

Salt

Trex

For the Crème Patisserie:

300ml milk

50g caster sugar

2 Large free-range eggs (yolks)

1 vanilla pod

300ml double cream

4 tbsps. cornflour

20g dark chocolate

1 tbsp. cocoa powder

Coffee liqueur/extract

For the chocolate topping:

100g plain chocolate

Peppermint essence (Nielsen-Massey)

Mint leaves (to Garnish)

Method:

For the Choux Pastry:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.

2. Sift the flour and add to a large bowl with the sugar and salt.

3. Add the milk and butter to a small saucepan and gently heat with the water, to melt the butter.

4. Once the butter melts increase the heat and bring the mix to a rolling boil.

5. Turn off the heat and tip in the flour mix, beat vigorously.

6. Cool in a dinner plate.

7. Once cool enough to handle put back in the pan and beat in each egg by hand with a wooden spoon, until the mix is shiny and smooth.

8. Use a piping bag to pipe out the buns on a baking sheet greased with Trex.

9. Bake for approx. 25 mins, reducing the temperature to 180 C as soon as you put the bun in the oven.

10. Take out the buns, poke a hole in the bottom of each bun and return them to oven upside down for 5 mins.

11. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

For the Crème Patisserie:

1. Heat the milk with the vanilla pod until almost boiling.

2. Mix together the sugar, yolks and vanilla seeds in a bowl, then stir in the flour a little at a time.

3. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, pour everything back into the pan and cook over high heat for approx. 5 mins until thick and coating the back of a spoon.

4. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, cocoa powder and coffee liqueur and mix vigorously until the chocolate has melted.

5. Lay cling film over the mix whilst it cools.

6. Whisk the cream until thick, then beat the custard with the electric mixer until smooth again, fold the custard mix through the cream until combined.

7. Use a piping bag with the long small nozzle to fill the buns until heavy.

For the chocolate topping:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter over simmering water, add the peppermint essence and taste.

2. Dip the choux buns into the chocolate mix.

3. Leave to set before serving.

Top Tip

I used a silicone macaron mat (mine is similar to the one in the link but I bought mine in Lidl) to make my choux buns, it's non-stick and meant that I could keep the buns all the same size.

I coated my mint leaves in a little egg white and caster sugar to serve, it’s my preference but not essential.