Profiteroles at home

 Profiteroles are beautiful, festive pastries that make a delicious, fun, easy and versatile dessert.  Here at the wine bar, we made the pastries in-house and then filled each little pastry with a scoop of homemade pine nut honey ice cream & served them with a chocolate espresso dipping sauce. 

How to make Profiteroles at home: 
• It’s quick:  Buy cream puff pastry shells in the frozen food section of your local grocery.  It’s not homemade, but it cuts prep down to nothing.
• It’s versatile: Fill the pastries with any ice cream that appeals or do an assortment so each pastry is a surprise.  You can also change the dipping sauce to anything that appeals: chocolate espresso, caramel, raspberry or different flavored whipped creams, for example amaretto or frangelica, to add a nice fluffy accent to the festive finish.  As well you can add salted nuts in with the ice cream … and so on.  Use your imagination.  If decide to use Chef Tracey’s Chocolate Espresso Dipping Sauce, you’ll need: 8oz finest bittersweet chocolate (chips or roughly chopped) • 1C heavy cream • ¼ C sugar • 1t instant espresso powder dissolved in 1t hot water. Heat cream and sugar to a simmer until sugar dissolves.  Pour over chocolate chips/chunks.  Add espresso and whisk until smooth.  Hold warm in a water bath until serving time.  To serve the profiteroles, heat the pastry shells per the directions.  Let cool to handle.  Then cut in half and use a melon scoop to fill with ice cream.  Serve with a little ramekin of warm dipping sauce.
• It’s fun:  The dessert has a broad range in terms of appeal.  You can throw a birthday party bash for your kids or you can serve this to seduce your partner, feeding one another of course.  If you go this route, don’t forget the dessert wine, with both ruby & tawny ports pair beautifully.

Contributor:  Chef Tracey