Raspberry Cream Profiteroles (Choux Pastry)

This post only has one photo but I promise this is not a difficult technique. I will admit that this was my first time making choux pastry. The pastry itself was great but these profiteroles did not turn out perfect. I made most of my profiteroles too big. Steam causes the pastry to rise and expand, creating a hollow center prime for stuffing. Since mine were too big, they ended up a little misshapen. So that was my bad, not the pastry itself. I'll tell you the right way so yours will be much nicer.

Choux pastry is interesting because it begins as a roux, meaning you begin cooking it on the stove, before you bake it. This is the same pastry you would use to make éclairs with.

I personally don't like things too sweet so I didn't add any sugar to my pastry (there's already sugar in the raspberry cream). If you want to be traditional about it, you can add 1 tbsp of sugar at the same time you add the salt to the pastry dough.

Ingredients

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
3-4 eggs
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups whipping cream
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Bring 1/2 cup water and the milk to a oil in a saucepan. Stir in butter and salt. When the butter has melted, remove from the heat while stirring constantly. Stir in flour gradually. Keep stirring as it will help to cool down the dough. It will be a good arm workout, but if you have a stand mixer you can use that. When the batter stops steaming, add in the eggs one at a time. The amount of eggs you need will depend on their size and the humidity where you live. You just want to add enough until the batter is smooth. 

Place the dough in a piping bag. Pipe little balls of pastry well spaced apart. You only want about a tbsp of pastry per ball. To release the pastry from the piping bag, give the nozzle a slight flick. This will create a little tip which will burn in the oven, so after you've finished piping use a wet finger to press the points down. Then bake until puffed up and golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

In a small saucepan on medium-high heat, add the raspberries, 2 tbsp water and 2 tbsp sugar. Cook while stirring. The raspberries will let out quite a lot of their liquid. Just cook the mixture down until the profiteroles are out of the oven. If it gets too thick just add a little water. Skim any foam or impurities that rise to the top as needed. It will be a syrupy/jammy texture. Pass the raspberry mixture through a fine sieve to catch any seeds and coarse mush. Allow the liquid to stand and cool a bit. 

Whip the whipping cream until it creates stiff peaks. Add the raspberry liquid to the whipped cream and fold it in. Taste the raspberry cream and adjust sweetness if necessary, Be careful not to eat it all, it's delicious! Then make a little hole in each of your profiterles with a sharp paring knife of a small piping tip. Place the raspberry cream in a new piping bag and fill each of the hollow profiteroles with the cream. They will fill up faster than you might think. As soon as you see any cream coming back out of the hole, stop filling. If you pipe too much, you could rupture the profiterole and make a mess. When all of your profiteroles are filled, wipe any excess with a clean paper towel and you're all set!

I hope you enjoy these at home. If you would rather use a different berry, go right ahead. It's all up to you!

Thanks again for being so supportive and understanding my hectic schedule for the next little while. As promised, the blog will be back with a punch as soon as I'm able.

In the meantime, take good care of yourselves. Mad love!

B