Profiteroles and why I learned to love my wife more.

Some of the best food memories I have are from a trip my wife and I took to France in 2009.  The first night we were in France we said that we were going to eat anything that we could.  Its only fitting I share with you one of my favorite desserts which was the first dessert we had in France.  I never knew what a profiterole was before that night.  Turns out profiteroles are a pretty name for small bite size cream puffs.  They are usually topped with a chocolate sauce, unless they are made for a traditional french wedding cake called a croquembouche.  I had planned on making something out of the normal for my wife's Christmas party.  So it was funny when my wife came home and said that one of her coworkers was expecting something extraordinary.  So here it is my version of a croquembouche.

 First thing is making a choux pastry which is very simple 

1 cup water

1 stick butter

1 cup flour

1 cup eggs (3-4 eggs)

1 pinch salt

Into the pot put the water and butter then boil.  Once at this point add the flour and salt continuously stirring till it is well incorporated.  It will be hard to get it to mix fully but keep at it.

After you have the the flour incorporated mix in the eggs one at a time till your dough looks like this.  I like to think it should be pipe able.

I like to draw one inch circles so that way you get a nice even amount of profiteroles.  Once You get to this point what I do is take a small cup of cold water to dip a finger in so I can gently push down the tips.  Bake these at 425 degrees for 10 minutes then pop a hole in the bottom of them. then bake again at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes to dry them out.

When they come out  this is what you get.  When cooled fill with your favorite filling then prepare for the cone assembly.

 The mixture for the sugar solution is.
1 cup of sugar
1/8 c water
Mix together over heat till the sugar melts into a beautiful caramel.  Then dip the bottoms in the caramel and make concentric rings giving a couple of seconds to to dry and start the next level.  when you have the layers complete take a fork and swing it bake and forth over the top of the cone giving you the strands of sugar.( oh don't do this on a rainy day, the strings will not form due to the moisture in the air.)

enjoy!