FRANCE AND THEIR PROFITEROLES

Recipe

Ingredients

Choux pastry

110g (3/4 cup) plain, all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

175 mls water

85 g unsalted butter cut into pieces

3 eggs

Pinch of nutmeg

Chantilly crème

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

2. Sift the flour together with the salt and nutmeg.

3. Put the water into a heavy bottomed medium pan, add the butter and bring to the boil.

4. Remove it immediately from the heat and quickly add the flour mixture.

5. Beat well with a wooden spoon and continue to beat until the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

6. At this stage, place the pan back on a low heat and continue beating for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool fully or eggs will scramble.

7. While choux is cooling beat 3 eggs together. Gradually stir in and add eggs to the choux (KEEPING IN MIND YOU MAY NOT NEED ALL OF THE EGGS)

8. The mixture should now be shiny and smooth but not runny.

9. Place the mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto a lightly oiled baking tray. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and then reduce the oven to 100C. Remove from oven when a crust has formed. Allow to cool.

10. In a large mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract together on high speed until soft peaks form in the mixture. Chill any unused Chantilly cream.

Evaluation questions.

1. Why did the mixture need to cool off before the addition of the egg? So the egg doesn't scramble.

2. What will be the result if the choux pastry mix is too wet? It won't be able to hold its shape.

3. Why must the ingredients be so precise in this reicpe? Because the shape of the profiterole needs to be perfect so the mixture can't be to dry or to wet.