Profiteroles with chocolate sauce

22 Jul

Beulah wasn’t one to share recipes and never taught her sons to cook. Such a shame… she had so much knowledge to impart.

Beulah’s father had been a high-end caterer, but when I asked if he’d taught her, she said “absolutely not”. Apparently Kay never entered the home kitchen, aside from a memorable occasion where he made the gravy, producing an enormous vat for the three of them.

This is so different to my mum’s approach. I was expected to help regularly and taught to make specific dishes, and have done the same thing with my girls.

When Beulah asked for ideas of what to do with seven-year-old Nova who was spending the afternoon, I suggested cooking together. I was impressed when Nova returned with a batch of perfect profiteroles and container of chocolate sauce, and even more so when I tried making them myself – they are tricky little numbers.

When I reminded Nova of this the other day she said, “Actually the ones I helped with weren’t very good, so Grandbee made a second batch by herself and made me promise not to tell you!” Beulah had her standards…;-)

Profiteroles with chocolate sauce

For the choux pastry:

  • 60g plain flour
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 150ml water
  • 50g butter, diced
  • 2 eggs, whisked

For the cream filling:

  • 175ml double cream
  • 1 tsp caster sugar

For the chocolate sauce:

  • 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 120ml strong black coffee (or 1 tsp instant coffee with 120ml water)
  • 90g caster sugar
  • 120ml double cream
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar.
  2. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and water.
  3. When the butter has melted and the mixture reaches a boil, remove from the heat.
  4. Quickly tip in the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth ball of paste that has come away from the sides of the pan.
  5. Slowly beat in the eggs until you have a glossy paste.
  6. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
  7. Drop teaspoons of the mixture onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 20–25 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack.
  8. To make the filling, whisk the cream until stiff, adding the sugar towards the end.
  9. Gently cut a slit round the side of each profiterole and fill with cream.
  10. To make the chocolate sauce, combine the chocolate, coffee and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until the chocolate has melted.
  11. Remove from the heat and stir in the double cream.
  12. Serve the profiteroles in individual bowls and drizzle with chocolate sauce just before eating.

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