Profiteroles

For the dough:

• Water – 55 ml
• Milk – 55 ml
• Butter – 50 g
• Flour – 75 g
• Chicken egg – 2 pcs
• Salt
• Sugar – 1 tsp.

For the cream:

• Milk – 150 ml
• Chicken egg – 1 pc
• Sugar – 150 g
• Butter – 225 g
• Cognac – 1 tbsp.
• Salt
• Vanilla sugar – 1 packet.
• Caramel – 50 g

Cooking time: 180 minutes

Preparation:

Let's prepare the choux pastry.

To prevent the dough from burning, it is advisable to use a pot with a thick bottom.

I combine milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter in it and bring the mixture to a boil on the stove.

Then I add all the flour to the boiling mixture at once. Stirring well, I cook the dough. At this point, the pot can be removed from the heat or the flame can be reduced to the minimum.

This is how the dough should look. Homogeneous and well-mixed.

I return it to the stove or over a flame slightly below medium and continue to cook the dough for another 3-4 minutes until such a velvety crust appears at the bottom of the pot.

And I add the eggs one by one, mixing well each time. At first, the mixture will separate into chunks, which is normal, just continue to mix.

In the end, this is how the dough should look. It is not liquid, but also not too thick.

Immediately transfer it to a pastry bag and place it in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

For piping the dough, we will need this kind of nozzle.

Tip: use 2 bags. Since the dough after cooling is quite thick, one bag may not hold up.

I place one bag inside the other and pipe out the pastries.

It's better to do this at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other. Since during baking, the pastries will expand and rise, and they must not touch each other.

If there are sharp tips, they can be smoothed by wetting your finger with water.

And optionally, you can sprinkle the pastries with powdered sugar, for a golden and beautiful crust!

Afterwards, I send the pastries to a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 150 and bake for another 15 minutes. Do not open the doors during baking.

My oven bakes like crazy; at 180 degrees, everything burns in it. If yours is “adequate”, then it is best to bake at 190, and then at 170 degrees.

These pastries love high temperatures, otherwise they simply won't rise.

This baking mode will allow us to achieve a golden crust and emptiness inside. And the pastries will NOT collapse when you take them out of the oven!

In the very unattractive phase, I will show what they look like inside. This is the result to achieve!

If there are still some partitions left somewhere, they can simply be removed.

And the cream can be any. Classic custard, butter, meringue, cream cheese... it all depends on your preference and availability.

This time I will use “Charlotte” cream.

In a saucepan, I combine the egg, salt, vanilla, and sugar. I mix and add the milk. I put it on the stove and cook until slightly thickened over medium-low heat. It took me about 10 minutes. In this cream, the egg-milk mixture will be quite liquid, not like for custard cream.

I cool it down.

And when the egg-milk mixture has cooled, I beat the softened butter until fluffy and slightly lightened.
Be careful not to overbeat!

Then, in several steps, I combine both mixtures.

At the end, I add cognac!

I beat it until homogeneous, and the cream is ready!

Also, if desired and available, you can add another layer. This can be melted chocolate or ganache, jam, condensed milk...

I decided to add some salted caramel.

You can fill the pastries in any way. I cut off the top and fill them like cream puffs.

You can also fill them closed, without uncovering the top.

This is what a beautiful cap turns out!

Or you can completely cut off the top and leave them open!

And it is advisable to refrigerate the pastries for 30-40 minutes to stabilize the cream.

If desired, decorate with either powdered sugar or cocoa.

These pastries look like this when cut:

Tender dough, aromatic, vanilla cream, and subtle notes of salted caramel!

You can look at this beauty forever!
Or better yet, eat it. I hope you enjoyed the recipe!