Eat: Profiteroles

With yesterday being Valentine's day and all, I knew I wanted to rustle up something good to eat. M&S provided the bulk of the meal, I must admit {you can't lose when you can get scallops, steak, chips, strawberries and wine for 2 for £20} but I was determined to take charge of the dessert portion of the evening.

The biggest benefit to being on the midterm break, aside from some much needed R&R, has been opportunities to spend some time baking and cooking. I seem to have fallen into the kind of comfortable rut where you cook the same meals, on the same evenings every week just because it is simple and tastes good: it has been so good to break out of that comfort zone.

I had never made profiteroles before and now seemed as good a time as any. The Great British Bake Off {how I long to be on that show} and the fierce Mary Berry {in the Tyra Banks sense of the word} made them look a bit daunting but I was willing to give it a go, especially knowing I could chuck them out and no one would be any the wiser!

I followed this recipe, made my own chocolate ganache using a one to one ratio {e.g. 200g chocolate and 200ml cream} and then used this recipe from the creme patissiere filling. I made sure to watch the choux buns like a hawk so they didn't burn and I think adding the water to the bottom of the oven really did help - they were light and airy on the inside and crisp on the outside, just as they ought to be. Not so daunting after all!

After they cooled, I dipped them in ganache and popped them in the fridge, repeating the process when the chocolate on top had hardened. I filled them last minute before dinner and the process was surprisingly easy, as long as you have a piping bag and fine nozzle! Filling them last minute meant I had to refrigerate my creme patissiere as I didn't want my profiteroles to go soggy but this meant the filling itself went a little bit lumpy. A quick whisk sorted most of that out, however, and it certainly wasn't noticeable in the eating.

I served them with strawberries, the remaining ganache and some salted caramel sauce {M&S toffee dessert sauce with some Maldon sea salt added for that savoury kick}. They were delicious: light and airy but rich at the same time and the salt from the caramel took some of the sweet edge off them. Perfect. Definitely something I will be making again! Next - eclairs...

Love B x