Chocolate Profiteroles
For the Choux Pastry:
170g/ 6oz unsalted butter
240ml / 1 cup water
210g / 7oz plain flour
3 large eggs
For the Chantilly Cream Filling:
300ml cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons icing sugar
For the Chocolate Sauce:
110g / 4oz dark chocolate
15g/ ½ oz butter
2 tablespoons water
Melt the butter with water over a low heat until it has melted. Bring it to a fast boil and then take it off the heat. Sift the flour twice to make sure it is very well aerated. Add it all in one go into the butter mix. Beat with a wooden spoon until it has all formed a smooth paste and comes away from the edges of the pan. Tip it out onto a cold plate to cool for 10-15 minutes.
Beat the eggs.
Return the pastry to the pan and beat in the eggs a little at a time. This should give you a shiny batter with a good dropping consistency.
Place spoonfuls of the batter onto a greased baking tray leaving enough space between for them to puff up to three times the size.
Bake at 200C / 400F for 25 minutes until they are nicely golden.
Remove from the oven and make a small slit or hole in the base of each profiterole to allow the steam to escape. Put them all bake on the baking tray upside down and return to the switched off oven to dry out for 5 minutes. Cool on a rack.
When the profiteroles have cooled, whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla essence and pipe it into each of the profiteroles.
Melt the dark chocolate with the butter and water to a smooth chocolate sauce and either dip each one separately or pour the sauce over the stack of profiteroles.
