Homemade Apple + Caramel Profiteroles


{Editors note: Happy Friday! Today I'm pleased to welcome a guest post from Trisha Jones of Sugar Thumb, a newish food blog which she started in April of just this year.  Trisha is originally from England but is now based out of Berlin. Her beautiful blog is filled with some pretty delicious-looking recipes featuring everything from cakes to tarts (a definite one to bookmark if you're a baking fan).  Lets give her a great big welcome to the interwebs shall we? .





Also note: This recipe is in metric (British) so I have converted to U.S. imperial since many of us in North America still use imperial for baking.  Please check conversions to ensure correct amounts. Note when converting grams to cups or ounces; grams are measured in weight where cups are in mass - for example, 100 grams of flour would equal approx. 1 cup, whereas 100 grams of sugar would equal 1/2 cup.  Here's a good link for conversion for recipes (categorized under ingredient). ~Jan}

Homemade Apple and Caramel Profiteroles

Profiteroles are one of those desserts that remind me of my mum’s early dinner parties – when I was very young and when a LOT of people where coming round. They were more of filler when my mum didn’t want people to be dessert-less and they were normally shop bought. They were nice, but for some reason they gave me the impression that choux pastry is difficult. For years I have avoided making it but after having made some éclairs recently – I thought... might as well give it a go.

Traditionally they’re a classic mix of cream and chocolate, but I really like the combination of apple and caramel so I thought I would mix it up and it worked really well. Honestly, that is the best thing about them – you can put in and on them whatever you like and it will still taste awesome… within limits. No one likes fish paste and caramel profiteroles I would guess…! They are also so impressive if you let them set a bit and then pile them in a huge conical arrangement… haven’t got round to it myself yet.


Recipes
The Profiteroles (choux pastry):
160ml (approx. 5.4 oz.) water
80 g (between 1/3 and 3/8 cup) butter
100 g (approx. 1 cup) flour
3 eggs


The Apple creme patissiere:
1 cooking apple (or granny smith)
4 medium egg yolks
65g (between 1/3 and 3/8 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
15g (1/8 cup) plain flour
15g (1/8 cup) cornflour
350ml (1.5 cups) whole milk
½ tsp vanilla paste
Icing sugar
The Caramel:
200g (approx. 7/8 cup) caster sugar
2 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp golden syrup

Method:
Choux Pastry:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°c (fan assisted) / 220°C (non-fan assisted) (425°F) and place baking paper on a baking tray and grease with butter.
2. Place the water and butter in the pan and heat until almost boiling - stir until the butter has melted
3. Take off the heat and sieve in the flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed.
4. Place back on the heat for about 30 seconds and the dough should all come together in a ball while mixing.
5. Take off the heat and leave to cool for about 5 minutes
6. In a separate bowl, beat the 3 eggs together and add to the dough (once cooled). Use a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly together until the dough is slightly looser but still holds its shape.
7. Place in a piping bag and pipe onto the baking paper in equal sized balls/ spherical shapes
8. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the profiteroles look golden on the outside.
9. Take out and leave to cool a bit
Apple Creme Patissiere (partly from BBC creme patissiere recipe):
1. Peel the cooking apple and place in a pan with enough water to cover it halfway
2. Cook until it becomes soft - Then place in a blender and blend into apple sauce
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until they turn pale. Whisk in the flour and cornflour and set aside.
4. Place the milk and vanilla paste in a saucepan, bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 30 seconds.
5. Slowly pour half of the hot milk onto the egg mixture, whisking all the time, then return the mixture to the remaining milk in the pan. It is important to slowly pour the hot milk onto the cold eggs before you return the mixture to the pan to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
6. Bring the mixture back to the boil and simmer for one minute, whisking continuously, or until smooth.
7. Mix in the apple sauce thoroughly
8. Place in a piping bag with a pointy "injection" like tip and insert the tip inside the cooled profiteroles - fill 3/4 of the way

 
Caramel:
1. In a pan on medium high heat place the mixed sugar and cream
2. Allow to heat and bubble until all the sugar is dissolved
3. Add in the golden syrup and lower the heat while mixing
4. Take off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes
5. Pour over the profiteroles as much or little as you like!


Enjoy!

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Jan Halvarson

1 comment:

.Guinevere said...

They look to die for. yum.


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