Behold the Profiterole!

Pretty, Pouffy and Perfectly Divine...
Profiteroles (prof-it-er-oles) look a whole lot more impressive than they actually are, which makes them an excellent conclusion to a good dinner party (especially if it includes a few hard-to-please guests!).

They’re also a lot lighter than most chocolatey desserts - especially if you use the traditional whipped cream instead of the icecream recommended by a lot of American versions of the recipe.

I actually use two different recipes for these profiteroles - this simple choux pastry recipe is quick and easy - and can be adapted for all kinds of other sweet and savory incarnations. The chocolate sauce, though, is all my mother’s circa 1979. It’s as sweet and glossy and smooth as you could ever imagine, and it’s the perfect complement to the savory pastry and the cream.

What You Need:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• pinch salt

What You Do:

1. Melt the butter and milk together in a non-stick saucepan (you can also use a regular saucepan, but non-stick makes clean-up a lot easier!). As soon as the butter and milk have melted together, add the flour into the saucepan and keep stirring until it forms a dough - it will bind together relatively quickly, but make sure you keep stirring until it has formed a smooth dough (a wooden spoon works best for this).
2. Transfer the dough into either a mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor. Add the eggs and salt and mixed together until the dough is smooth and the eggs are completely blended (the dough will become looser and will turn a deep yellow thanks to the egg yolks).
3. Spoon the dough into a pastry bag and pipe one-inch mounds onto a non-stick cookie sheet (silicon or “silpat” sheets are fabulous for this). The mounds should be about 3/4 inch tall and you can dab down the tips with one finger. Place them in a pre-heated, 425F oven for about 20 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. It’s a good idea to let the baked puffs sit in the oven for a few more minutes to firm up and dry out, although you may want to take them out for a moment and pierce the bottoms to let steam escape.
4. When puffs are cooled, you can store them in an airtight container for a few days or freeze them. If you’re planning on using them immediately, gently slice each puff through the middle and fill with pastry cream or whipped cream. If you're feeling adventurous (or just want to liven things up a bit) vanilla, chocolate, coffee, mint or strawberry icecream makes a cool change. No matter what you choose, top the filled puffs with perfect chocolate sauce (below).
   

Perfect Chocolate Sauce

What You Need:

• 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (broken pieces of baking chocolate or chocolate chips work well, but remember, the higher the quality of your chocolate, the better the sauce!).
• 1/2 oz margerine or butter (I prefer butter)
• 2 tblsp water
• 2 level tblsp Golden Syrup* or honey

What You Do:

Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler (always melt chocolate over a double boiler to diffuse the heat and prevent burning — believe me, there is nothing worse than getting your tastebuds set for chocolate then burning it all…). Add the water and golden syrup and keep stirring until the sauce is smooth. Remove the sauce from heat until ready to serve (at that point, I’ve found it’s helpful to reheat it slightly so that it maintains its glossy, fluid consistency).

Serve three profiteroles to a plate, drizzling them with generous amounts of sauce (Mod Girls Kitchen Rule #1: You can never have - or use - too much chocolate). That being said...remember, the key to this dessert is moderation — making grotesquely obese pastry puffs filled with giant globs of icecream will transform an otherwise elegant finale into nothing more than Franken-food (Mod Girls Kitchen Rule #2: No Franken-Food).

Note: Lyle’s Golden Syrup* is a British product that can be found in a lot of gourmet markets, international markets, European specialty shops and some supermarkets. If you can’t find golden syrup, honey* is a suitable alternative and makes an equally divine sauce.

*Remember - the * means this is a great ingredient to have on hand, so stock up!