Holy Profiteroles, Batman! Halloween Part 3

Holy Profiteroles, Batman!

Back in May, I made choux pastry for the first time because I wanted to make eclairs for Mother’s Day. I think eclairs look very elegant, which was perfect for a Mother’s Day brunch. I mixed them, pipped them, and baked them only to be disappointed that there was no rise. I mean zero rise at all. I was left with finger-looking, oddly baked pastry; it was chewy and had no flavor. The only saving grace was a raspberry glaze I had made to go on top of them.

At that moment, I was so glad that I had decided to make the eclairs a surprise because I didn’t want to show up with those gross looking things and try to pass them off as eclairs. I baked a lemon drizzle cake instead and used the raspberry glaze for the topping and all was well. (However, I still had a fresh batch of raspberry crème pâtissière in the fridge that I had no idea what to do with.)

I was pretty convinced choux pastry was out of my reach until now. Since I challenged myself to create fall inspired and Halloween themed treats this year, I gave choux pastry another go. I found a different recipe and hoped for a rise.

I was so relieved I got a somewhat decent rise from the dough; it felt like a huge accomplishment, but I knew it could be better. I tinkered with the recipe a bit and tried it a third time and Holy Profiteroles, Batman did I get a rise on these little guys!

pumpkin spice profiteroles

While the pumpkin spice macarons recipe is jam packed with pumpkin, I know there are people who prefer a more subtle flavor, so the spice is only in the topping.

The video is on youtube! Click here to view it.

Tools

• small circle cookie cutter, about 1 ½ in.
• 2 sheet trays
• parchment paper
• piping bags
• medium sized pan
• kitchen scale
• heatproof  bowl, glass or ceramic
• measuring spoons
• wooden spoon
• *pastry tip nozzle attachment & coupler if filling with pastry cream, which I suggest you do!
• *If you have something to help you squeeze the pastry cream from the piping bag (like the one pictured below) I’d suggest using that for the pastry cream so your hands don’t hurt as much.

Choux pastry

• 75g butter, diced *if using unsalted add a pinch of salt.
• 1 tsp granulated sugar (aka caster sugar)
• 50g plain flour
• 50g strong bread flour
• 3 large eggs

I began with a recipe by Martha Collison. You can find her choux pastry here.

Pumpkin spice crumb top

• 75g butter, diced & at room temperature
• 75g plain flour
• 75g granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ginger

Directions
**If you are making the pastry cream yourself do that first because it needs to cool in the fridge. This is the recipe I use. I love it very much. The only thing I will say is that I prefer to add the vanilla bean myself instead of the vanilla extract (the recipe also says you can use some booze to flavor it), but I tried a syrup once and it made the cream too runny to fill the profiteroles with so I just stick with vanilla beans. I did have great success using crushed freeze dried raspberries to flavor my pastry cream once. It didn’t make it too thick.

1. First make the pumpkin spice crumb topping: Mix the flour and sugar together in a large bowl. Then add in the diced butter using your fingers to ensure it is well-mixed. You can begin with a pastry blender, if you have one, and finish off with your hands. The mixture should appear grainy and sand-like. Next, add the spices and use your hands to distribute the spices evenly while you form the dough into a ball shape.

see the grainy texture.

Pumpkin spice sugar mixture all rolled out.

2. Line the table with some plastic wrap, about 2.5 feet, to give you enough room. Dump the pumpkin spice sugar mixture onto the plastic wrap and use your hands to flatten it out into a rectangle shape as best as you can. Place another layer or plastic wrap over the sugar mixture and use a light rolling pin to work your sugar mixture into a thin rectangle. Be gentle and lift the top layer of plastic wrap as needed so it doesn’t tear the sugar mixture. Transfer to a flat surface, such as a baking sheet, and freeze for at least 30 minutes. This will ensure the topping stay together while you cut it into circles.

3. Make the choux pastry while the topping is in the freezer. Preheat oven to 400° F. Place the butter, sugar and water into the medium pot over a medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, and wait for all the butter to melt.

Next, add the flour and mix the choux dough forcefully with a wooden spoon until a smooth ball of dough forms. Keep the dough on the heat for 1-2 minutes longer to cook the flour and keep stirring it. Place the dough into a heatproof bowl and leave to cool until it has stopped steaming, for at least 5 minutes. If you don’t wait the warm dough can cook the egg too rapidly when you add them and you can end up with bits of scrambled egg in your dough.

4. Set 1 egg aside. Add the two eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each egg. The dough will separate at first and reject addition of the egg. You need to make sure you bring the dough back together into a smooth mixture. Now for the third egg. Beat the egg in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add the scrambled egg a little at a time to the mixture beating well after each addition just like before. The choux pastry doesn’t need all the egg; you want a shiny dough that falls in a ‘V’ shape when lifted up with a spatula. (see video above for a better look)

after 1 egg has been mixed in.

After 2.5 eggs have been mixed in. Ready to fill the piping bag.

Squeeze the choux dough down & cut the tip off.

5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Transfer the dough into a piping bag and pipe 25-30 little balls onto the tray. A good size is about the size of a half-dollar. Or, if you already have a macaron template (see macaron post) you can use that as a size guide. Remember to leave some space because they will expand in the oven. Dip your finger in water and smooth down the little balls. Use the remaining egg from step 4, and give each profiterole an egg wash.

Piped & egg washed!

6. Remove pumpkin spice crumble topping from the freezer and remove the top layer of plastic wrap. Using a cookie cutter or cupcake corer, cut out as many circles as you need to top the profiteroles. Toss an excess crumble. 

Going in the oven

7. Bake at 400° Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until the sides look golden brown. Turn off the oven and let the profiteroles cool in there, with the door cracked slightly if you can. (Those of us with small children or animals probably shouldn’t leave the oven door cracked unattended, so I left mine in there for 5 minutes with the door closed then I moved them to the table.)

8. After they are cooled completely, use a pastry tip to fill with pastry cream (my favorite recipe here). ENJOY!! 

Filled with pastry cream

Delicious!

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I hope your baking adventures go well!