Profiteroles au Chocolat Chaud
Chapter 5 — Desserts & Café
This is the dessert that separates a decent meal from a great night out on Spring Street. It relies on a brutal temperature clash: scalding, bittersweet chocolate sauce poured over rock-hard vanilla ice cream, encased in a pastry shell that shatters on impact. The secret to achieving that perfect, uniform sphere of pastry is a paper-thin layer of cookie dough called a craquelin draped over the raw choux, and the discipline to dry out your dough on the stove before baking. You have to start this the night before. Don't rush it. When the hot chocolate hits the frozen cream at the table, you'll understand why.
Before you start
Scoop the ice cream into spheres and freeze overnight.
Line a quarter-sheet pan with parchment, scoop out 12 to 15 perfect spheres with a cookie scoop, and place them in the coldest part of your freezer until rock hard. You cannot scoop ice cream straight from the pint into a freshly baked shell and pour hot chocolate over it without creating a melted disaster.
Make the craquelin dough and freeze it paper-thin.
Beat 4 tablespoons of softened butter, the brown sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, and a pinch of salt into a paste. Roll it between two large sheets of parchment paper until it is about 1/16th of an inch thick, then freeze the sheet flat overnight alongside the ice cream.
Ingredients
- cultured French butter (83% fat)4 tbsp
- light brown sugar1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
- all-purpose flour1/2 cup
- kosher salt1 pinch
- whole milk1/2 cup
- water1/2 cup
- cultured French butter (83% fat)8 tbsp
- granulated sugar1 tsp
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- all-purpose flour1 cup + 2 tbsp
- large eggs4 large
- premium vanilla bean ice cream1 1/2 pt
- high-quality dark chocolate (70% cacao)6 oz
- heavy cream1/2 cup
- water1/4 cup
- Dutch-processed cocoa powder2 tbsp
- light corn syrup2 tbsp
- kosher salt1/4 tsp
Method
- 01
Boil the milk, water, and butter together precisely.
In a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, heat the milk, water, cubed butter, sugar, and salt over medium heat so that the butter completely melts just as the liquid reaches a rolling boil. Do not let the water boil before the butter melts, or evaporation will ruin the dough's hydration.
- 02
Dump in the flour and dry out the panade.
The moment the liquid reaches a rolling boil, pull the pan off the heat entirely and dump in all the sifted flour at once. Beat it vigorously with a stiff wooden spoon until it forms a shaggy mass, then return the pan to medium-low heat. Continue to beat forcefully for exactly 2 to 3 minutes until a hazy film forms on the bottom of the pan—this desséchage step is non-negotiable for structural integrity.
- 03
Cool the dough in a stand mixer to 145 degrees.
Transfer the hot panade to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes to release the steam. If you add eggs to a dough hotter than 160 degrees, they will scramble and the choux will be a dense failure.
- 04
Stream in the beaten eggs until the dough forms a V shape.
With the mixer running on medium-low, add the beaten eggs in four slow, steady additions, waiting for each to fully absorb. Stop adding egg the moment the dough is smooth, glossy, and falls from the paddle in a distinct, heavy "V" shape.
- 05
Pipe the choux and top with the frozen craquelin.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip and pipe 1.5-inch wide mounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing them 2 inches apart. Peel the top layer of parchment off your frozen craquelin, use a 1.5-inch round cookie cutter to punch out disks, and place one frozen disk gently on top of each piped mound.
- 06
Bake without opening the oven door.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, place the tray in the middle, and immediately drop the temperature to 375 degrees. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until deeply golden brown; opening the door during the first 20 minutes will collapse the steam-leavened pastry.
- 07
Evacuate the steam and dry the shells.
Remove the tray, quickly poke a small hole in the side or bottom of each puff with a paring knife, and return them to the turned-off oven with the door propped slightly ajar for 10 minutes. Let them cool completely on a wire rack so they don't turn soggy.
- 08
Emulsify the hot chocolate sauce.
In a small saucepan, bring the water, heavy cream, corn syrup, cocoa powder, and salt to a gentle boil over medium heat for exactly 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the finely chopped dark chocolate, let it sit for 1 minute, then whisk gently from the center outward until the sauce boasts a flawless, mirror-like shine.
- 09
Assemble the profiteroles and serve immediately.
Using a serrated knife, slice the top third off each cooled choux shell and place the bottoms on dessert plates. Rest a rock-hard sphere of ice cream on each bottom, lean the lids rakishly on top, and bring them to the table. Pour the hot chocolate sauce generously over the pastry right in front of your guests to guarantee the crucial thermal shock.