Blog

This classic profiteroles recipe is a staple in French pastry and is a great recipe to follow if this is your first time making pâte à choux. Each delightful bite-sized frozen treat is a crisp pastry shell filled with a scoop of homemade vanilla bean gelato and topped with a warm chocolate sauce. If you're a fan of cream puffs and ice cream sandwiches, then you will love this recipe.

This profiterole recipe is courtesy of our Executive Pastry Chef, Christophe Rull, who will walk you through the basics of making pâte à choux. It's important to have crisp pastry shells with your choux recipes because a soggy profiterole isn't as good as a fresh one. Make the dough and freeze it ahead of time, or bake the choux buns in advance and fill them with vanilla ice cream when you're ready to serve!

Profiteroles Ingredients

Vanilla beans give the ultimate flavor, but you may use vanilla paste or extract if you’d like.

Ice Cream Stabilizer is exactly what it sounds like. It keeps water crystals small and soft, making the gelato denser and smoother. This will help the gelato hold its consistency under frozen temperatures. We are using cremodan 30 in this recipe, but you can leave it out if you do not have it.

Glucose is widely used in Europe over corn syrup, but some glucose is made from different plant sources while corn syrup is made from corn starches. It can be hard to find glucose, so you can use corn syrup and it will have the same effect. It’s used to keep the chocolate glaze soft when you put it in the freezer, so you don't have a hard bite of chocolate with your profiterole.

Glucose Powder is used to sweeten and stabilize the gelato. Since this gelato is a cream base, it does not need any more moisture which is why we are using powder over corn syrup.  

64% Dark Chocolate will result in the best flavor for your chocolate sauce. You can use any type of chocolate you'd like, or even store-bought sauce if that is easier. The percentage you see on the chocolate package is the percentage of actual cocoa in it. The higher the percentage, the darker the chocolate. If you prefer milk chocolate, that would be delicious too!

Making Homemade Profiteroles

This choux pastry recipe comes together quickly, but try to plan ahead if you're making all of these components from scratch. The gelato base needs time to chill before churning it, the chocolate sauce needs time to cool before pouring it, and the cream puffs need time to cool down before filling them. Make the gelato first (preferably a day ahead), then the pastry shells, and finally the chocolate ganache sauce when you're ready to serve.

Making the Cream Puff Shells

1. Add the milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter to a medium saucepan, then bring it to a boil. It is important to make sure that the butter is melting at the same rate the milk is heating so that the milk doesn't boil before the butter is melted. Slowly moving it around with a wooden spoon helps distribute the heat evenly. 
2. Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the sifted flour all at once. 
3. Begin stirring immediately with a wooden spoon, and continue to stir for 1 minute until the flour is fully incorporated, it will look a lot like mashed potatoes. 
4. Turn the heat back on to medium-high heat and continue to stir and keep it moving to dry out the dough.
5. Once you see a browning layer on the bottom of the pan, the dough is dry enough and you can remove it from the heat. 
6. Put the dough immediately into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and begin to mix to cool it down, this should take about 30 seconds.
7. Add the eggs one at a time, letting each egg incorporate fully before the next. Mix on low until the dough is fully combined with no spots of dry flour, and stiff enough to hold its shape, but pull to a soft peak when picking up the spoon. 
8. Prepare a pastry bag with a large round tip, Christophe is using an Ateco 809 tip. Fill the piping bag with the dough.
9. On to a prepared baking tray, pipe the pâte à choux rounds slightly smaller than your desired final size, as they will “puff” and expand in the oven. Chef Christophe is using a "silpain" baking mat, but parchment paper will work as well.
10. Gently smooth the top of the cream puff with a wet finger.
11. Bake at 350°F (176°C) for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool on a wire rack to room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Making the Gelato

1. Add the milk, cream, half of the sugar, glucose powder, and the vanilla bean to a medium saucepan over the stove, stir with a spatula and cook it over medium heat until the mixture reaches 80°C (175°F).
2. Mix about half of the remaining sugar into the ice cream stabilizer, and stir it together well to avoid lumps. We're using cremodan 30, but you can leave it out if desired.
3. At 80°C (175°F), add the sugar and stabilizer mixture to the pot and whisk constantly.
4. Mix together the rest of the sugar (¼ of the total sugar) into the egg yolks.
5. Bring the milk mixture to a simmer and turn off the heat.
6. Add about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs and stir it together until combined. This is called tempering the eggs and will help prevent lumps in your gelato.
7. Add the egg and milk mixture back into the pot and cook over medium heat until it reaches 83°C (181°F). Stir around the bottom and sides of the pan in a figure-eight shape to prevent burning.
8. Pour the ice cream base into a medium bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 1 hour until completely cooled, or place it in an ice bath to cool it down faster.
9. Add ice and ice cream salt around the outside of your ice cream machine bowl. I'm using a Bosch universal plus stand mixer with an ice cream attachment in the center.
10. Pour the base in the center and mix on high for about 20 minutes until the ice cream is thick. Churn the cooled-down ice cream base in an ice cream machine.

Making the Chocolate Sauce

1. Heat the glucose in the microwave for about 15 seconds until it is very liquid.
2. Add the glucose and milk to a small saucepan over the stove, stir with a spatula and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
3. Fill a large measuring cup with the chocolate and pour the milk mixture over the top. Wait for about 1 minute until the chocolate melts.
4. Blend the chocolate sauce with an immersion blender until smooth and fully combined. You can use a whisk if that's all you have.
5. Refrigerate the sauce until it's completely cold, about 30 minutes.
6. Fill a pastry bag with the sauce and snip off the tip.

Assembling the Profiteroles

1. Take your gelato (or ice cream) out of the freezer to start warming up so that it's easy to scoop.
2. Slice the fully cooled cream puff in half with a serrated knife, this will avoid crushing the hollow shell. 
3. Place a small scoop of ice cream on the bottom half of the cream puff and add the top lid.
4. Keep the profiteroles on a baking sheet and move them in and out of the freezer as you're assembling to keep the ice cream from melting.
5. Pipe the chocolate sauce on top when you're ready to serve.
6. Freeze the profiteroles in an airtight container for 1-2 days.

FAQ

Related Recipes

Cream Puffs

Apple Tart

Creme Anglaise Recipe

Caramel Sauce

Recipe

This cream puff recipe is a simple classic French dessert that balances sweet, rich, soft, and crunchy all in one fluffy little bite! They are slightly crisp on the exterior, soft and chewy on the inside, and filled with a sweet light vanilla bean whipped cream or pastry cream. Chef Christophe shows us how to make and elevate this simple elegant dessert at home. 

The foundation of the perfect cream puff is a light and airy classic French dough. Pâte à choux is a basic recipe that is the base for many delicious French pastries: eclairs, savory gougères, churros, cruller donuts, beignets, gnocchi, profiteroles, and more. Homemade cream puffs are the best because you get to enjoy them immediately while they’re still crisp, you will never buy one from the store again!  

Cream Puff Ingredients

European butter will result in better pastries and flavor because it has a higher fat content (83%) than American butter. More fat and less water equal more flavor and better baking results. 

Whole milk is ideal for this recipe due to its fat content. In some recipes, lower fat milk will work fine, but when working with classic French recipes it's best to use what is recommended for the best results. 

Salt, even the smallest of pinches, can set your pastry apart from the rest. It enhances all flavors and highlights the sweetness of a pastry. 

Eggs are the backbone of this dough, without them, they won’t “puff”. 

Making Homemade Cream Puffs

Classic cream puffs come together in a few stages, make the pâte à choux first, pipe it, bake the shells, and make the whipped cream filling while the shells cool. You can also fill the cream puffs with pastry cream, just make it ahead of time so that it has time to cool as well.

Making the Pâte à Choux

1. Add the milk, water, salt, sugar, and butter to a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil. It is important to make sure that the butter is melting at the same rate the milk is heating so that the milk doesn't boil before the butter is melted. Slowly moving it around with a wooden spoon helps distribute the heat evenly. 
2. Once the mixture has come to a boil, turn off the heat and add the sifted flour. 
3. Begin stirring immediately with a wooden spoon, and continue to stir for 1 minute until the flour is fully incorporated, it will look a lot like mashed potatoes. 
4. Turn the heat back on to medium-high heat and continue to stir and keep it moving to dry out the dough.
5. Once you see a browning layer on the bottom of your saucepan the dough is dry enough and remove it from the heat. This is important, as it will help your cream puffs “puff” and ensure that they have a hollow center for the cream filling.
6. Put the dough immediately into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment and begin to mix to cool it down, this should take about 30 seconds. When you can place your hand on the side of the bowl without it feeling too hot, it’s done.
7. Add the eggs one at a time, letting each egg incorporate fully before the next. The dough should be fully combined with no spots of dry flour, and stiff enough to hold its shape, but pull to a soft peak when picking up the spoon. 
8. Prepare a piping bag with a large round tip, Christophe is using an Ateco 809 tip. Fill the piping bag with the dough.
9. Pipe the pâte à choux rounds slightly smaller than your desired final size (about 2-inches), as they will “puff” and expand in the oven. Chef Christophe is using a "silpain" baking mat on a cookie sheet, but parchment paper will work as well.
10. Gently smooth the top of the cream puff with a damp fingertip.
11. Bake the cream puffs at 350°F for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. 
12. Cool the cream puffs completely to room temperature on a wire rack, for about 30 minutes. 

Making the Whipped Cream

1. Split the vanilla pod in half with a sharp knife and scrape the beans. Add the beans to the heavy cream and mix briefly so the beans distribute evenly. 
2. Place a strainer directly over your mixing bowl and strain the cream and vanilla beans to remove the larger fibers from the cream.
3. Add the powdered sugar to the cream in the mixer. 
4. Whip the cream on medium-high speed with the whisk attachment for about 5 minutes until medium to stiff peaks. Keep the whipped cream cold until you are ready to use it. 

Filling the Cream Puffs

1. Fill a pastry bag with the prepared whipped cream. Christophe chose a star tip, but any larger tip will do. 
2. Slice the fully cooled cream puff in half with a serrated knife, this will avoid crushing the hollow shell. You can also insert a piping tip into a small hole on the bottom of the cream puff and fill the cream puffs in the center.
3. Pipe a generous amount of whipped cream into the bottom half and gently place the top on, do not squish them down so you can still see the beautiful filling. 
4. Sift a light dusting of powdered sugar on top. 

Storing Homemade Cream Puffs

Cream puffs are meant to be eaten the same day as they are made. The moisture of the filling will cause the cream puff to soften and lose its crunch. So the sooner you can serve the cream puffs, the better.

Storing Baked Cream Puff Shells

Cool them completely, wrap them well in plastic wrap, and store them at room temperature. They can also be frozen if you do not plan to use them in the next day or so. If your cream puffs have softened they can be crisped up in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes.

Storing Cream Puff Dough

If you don’t plan to serve your puffs the same day, pipe and freeze the cream puff dough to be baked and filled as needed. Just place them on a baking sheet and let them thaw slightly and bake as directed. If you have leftover filled cream puffs, store them in an airtight container in the fridge, they will be soft, but still delicious. 

Tips For Baking From Scratch

*This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click on them I might get a few pennies.

I suggest purchasing a kitchen scale if you don’t already have one to make the best scratch recipes. One cup of flour can vary from scoop to scoop depending on how packed the flour is, humidity, and the type of flour, which can ruin your recipe. All my cake recipes (except doctored box mixes) use a scale. All of Chef Christophe's recipes are measured in grams, and a scale is necessary.

Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place) which means you measure everything before you start mixing so you don’t accidentally forget something or add any ingredients out of order. I use a set of medium and small pyrex glass bowls I got from goodwill for this and it makes things SO much easier.

Related Recipes 

Pastry cream

Lemon curd

Chocolate mousse

Mille-Feuille

FAQ

Recipe