27 Jun Pistachio & Chocolate Profiteroles

Guys. Gals. Peeps. Homies. Invisible internet friends. I’m super proud of how these turned out. Really, really proud. And excited. Like, this was the most fun I’ve had in the kitchen in a long time, excited.

Choux pastry, choux dough, pâte à choux (which has far too many wing dings, don’t you agree?) — whatever you call it — who knew it could be so damn fun?! I love everything about it, with my whole heart. From the way the dough steams and smells all nutty delicious as you cook it on the stove (yes, pastry on the stove!), to the way it puffs up oven, into a light, crisp shell leaving you with a hollow pocket for squeezing in the goop of your choice, surrounded by tiny bits of rich, eggy dough pillows.

I’ve been thinking about choux for months. (Pun intended.) Note that it’s actually pronounced like ‘shoe’ but I like to think of it as ‘choo’, as in, ‘What ‘chu lookin’ at?!’. 

Last, last Christmas, my dadbought me Baking With Julia as a gift and it’s been my intention ever since to bake my way through the first ten recipes of the book – deemed the basic recipes that every baker should have in his or her repertoire. I’ve managed to make her make her flakey pie dough several times (butter + shortening combo, in case you were curious), enough to feel pretty damn confident in my pie crust skillz – which, if you remember, were pretty lacking at one point. Choux pastry is recipe-to-master numero dos. But, as often happens with good intentions, life [read: other recipes] get in the way, books get stashed on dusty shelves, and I never got around to Julia’s pâte à choux.

To be truthful, I didn’t even use her recipe in these profiteroles. But she planted the seed.

And when my friend Devrim’s birthday rolled around and he requested profiteroles as his birthday treat, I knew it was time to put on my choux pants and get down to business.  Thus, the seed has taken root into these beautiful pastries. Light, airy choux pastries filled with a whipped pistachio pastry cream, topped with honey-sweetened chocolate ganache and chopped pistachios for a healthy crunch.

I chose not to use Julia’s choux pastry recipe mainly because hers calls for milk instead of water. You can use either when making a choux pastry and get beautiful results, but there are a few minor differences in the outcomes.

Pâte à choux made with milk: In most pastries, milk acts as a tenderizer. Therefore choux pastry made with it will result in a softer pastry. Additionally, the lactose proteins caramelize during baking and cause milk-based pastry to have a deeper brown color than its water-based counterpart.

Pâte à choux made with water: Choux made with water results in a lighter, crispier shell and a lighter brown color. Since, I wanted my pastries to be nice and sturdy so they could stand up to both the pistachio cream filling & the chocolate ganache topping, I went with water as my liquid.

Whichever you choose, this choux pastry recipe can be boiled down to a simple ratio of 1:1:1:1:1 — one cup of water, one stick of butter, one cup of flour, one cup of eggs (4 eggs), one pinch of salt. Pretty simple, right?

And while making a pastry dough on the stove may seem intimidating, it’s actually quite quite easy. Easier than say, making a perfectly fluffy cake batter, even. There’s no waiting for butter to soften or worrying about bringing your liquids to room temperature because you’re going to simmer them together on the stove anyway. And it takes like, 10 minutes, total.

All those fancy french folks who have been intimidating you with their pâte à choux swans all this time? It was a fake-out.

So roll up your sleeves, slap on your apron, and get to making some cream puffs! (Which are the exact same thing as profiteroles, in case you were confused.)

A few notes about this recipe:

I chose to use pistachio pastry cream because I know pistachios are one of Devrim’s favorite, but you can incorporate whatever flavors you like. Classic vanillas pastry cream would be perfect, or you could add a little espresso powder for kick. Fancy up the ganache by adding a tablespoon of raspberry preserves. 

If you have left over puffs, you can freeze them unfilled in an airtight container for up to 2 months. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer and let thaw to room temperature. If desired, crisp them up by placing in a 375F oven for 3-5 minutes (no need to thaw in this case, just pop them in the oven). 

SHORTCUT: If you really wanted to make this recipe minimal effort, use instant pudding for the filling and store-bought fudge sauce for the topping. But really, the ganache is SO easy (3 ingredients!), I highly recommend you make it at home. The honey sweetness paired with the pistachios is perfection.

Choux pastry from Steamy Kitchen
Pistachio Pastry Cream from Food & Wine
Chocolate Ganache from Ina Garten

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