Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day by making coffee profiteroles with chocolate sauce using classic Irish “boozy” ingredients to make ordinary cream puffs a little more attractive.
Ingredients
Pâte à Choux
8ounceswater
¾teaspoonkosher salt
1teaspoongranulated sugar
3 ¾ouncesunsalted butter
4ouncesall-purpose flour
3eggs
Coffee Crème Anglaise
16ounceshalf-and-half
1teaspoonvanilla extract
6egg yolks
5ouncesgranulated sugar, 10 tablespoons
2teaspoonsinstant coffee
4teaspoonsIrish cream, Bailey’s or Carolans
Irish Coffee Whipped Cream
16ouncesheavy whipping cream, chilled
1 ½ouncespowdered sugar, 5 tablespoons
½teaspooninstant coffee, dissolved in ½ teaspoon hot water
4tablespoonsIrish cream, Bailey’s or Carolans
Chocolate Whisky Sauce
1cupheavy cream
½teaspoonvanilla extract
1pinchkosher salt
6ouncesbittersweet chocolate, at least 60%
1tablespoonIrish whisky, (Jameson, Bushmills, or your favorite; add more to your liking)
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place the water, salt, sugar, and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir the mixture until the butter is fully melted.
Turn off the heat and immediately add the flour. Vigorously stir the dough with a spoon by hand. Turn on the heat to medium and continue stirring the dough until it comes away from the sides of the pan. The dough should look relatively dry and should just begin to leave a film on the saucepan.
Transfer the dough to a bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle, slowly stir and allow it to cool briefly to about 130°F or below to prevent the eggs from curdling when added.
Begin beating in the eggs one at a time, until each egg is fully incorporated. Continue to insert the eggs one by one until the mixture is shiny but firm. It may not be necessary to add all of the eggs; too many will create a runny dough. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl in thick threads; it will not clear the bowl. The mixture should not be runny; it should be easy to control when piped and hold it’s shape.
Add a workable amount of dough into a pastry bag and pipe onto the sheet pan, creating a 1.5-inch circular ball of dough. Dip your finger in water and flatten any tails left on the ball when piping to create a smoother surface. Pipe the balls 2-inches apart from each other; they will expand to about 2-inches after baking.
Bake as follows to create a dry and hollow cream puff shell: Bake for 10 minutes at each temperature setting; 425°F > 375°F > 325°F > 275°F > 225°F > 200°F. Open the oven door as little as possible to prevent rapid changes in the stove’s temperature.
Break open one of the pastry's to ensure that baking is complete; you want the pastry to be as dry as possible on the inside. If needed, continue to bake at 200°F until dry in the center; they should feel light in weight when you pick them up. (Note: This baking method will work the best if you bake one tray at a time.)
Cool completely and reserve until ready to fill.
Coffee Crème Anglaise
In a heavy saucepan, bring the half-and-half and vanilla just to a boil.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Temper the egg mixture with approximately one-third of the hot half-and-half, then return the entire mixture to the saucepan with the remaining half-and-half.
Cook the sauce over medium heat, constantly stirring, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not allow the sauce to boil.
As soon as the sauce thickens, remove it from the heat. Add the instant coffee and Irish cream, and stir until fully incorporated. Taste and adjust to your liking.
Pour the sauce through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Chill the sauce over an ice bath, then cover and keep refrigerated.
Irish Coffee Whipped Cream
Place cream in a chilled mixing bowl, whisk until the cream is slightly thickened.
Add the sugar, Irish cream, and dissolved coffee to the mixer, and continue whisking until smooth medium-stiff peaks are formed, being carefully not to over mix. The cream should be soft and light, not grainy.
The whipped cream may be stored in the refrigerator for a few hours. If the cream begins to soften, gently whip again if necessary.
Add the cream to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. You can use a large zip lock bag a cut a small opening in the corner to pipe if you do not have a piping bag.
Chocolate Whiskey Sauce
In a saucepan combine the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Heat the cream over medium heat until just boiling, about 2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate and whiskey, and whisk until smooth.
To serve, reheat gently over simmering water.
Assembly
Cut the profiterole shell in half. Fill the bottom the shell with the whipped cream. Dip the top of the shell in the chocolate, then place on top of the filled shell.
To Plate: Add two tablespoons of the coffee crème anglaise to the center of a small serving plate. Place the filled cream puff on top of the coffee crème. Top with more chocolate sauce, or serve with ice cream.
Notes
The pâte à choux can be frozen or stored at room temperature for 3 days. But, once filled, the cream puffs should be served the same day, as they will get soggy from the filling.