The sweltering heat was making it so hard to motivate myself to leave the cool comforts of my home. It’s only May. How on earth can it be so hot? I felt sweat prickling at the back of my neck.
The dull grey skies, cool breeze and occasional drizzles in London now seemed like a gift compared to the awful humid heat here in Hong Kong. After coming home from England just a few days before I was now mourning for the beautiful European landscapes and quaint little towns. How I longed to be back in Europe to walk along the cobbled streets; to enjoy the cool breeze and to smell of their bakeries.
I needed a distraction. Something to do that would alleviate my mood and perhaps bring a little part of Europe back to me. Perhaps I could bake something. After all thats what I’m best at.
Zoe tapped my shoulder, “Should we try this?”. She pointed to her laptop screen. Profiteroles.
My jaw dropped. This light, airy choux pastry filled with cream and drizzled with chocolate – a elegant, classy treat found across France. I had attempted to make profiteroles years ago but it took throwing away multiple batches of pastry dough before I got it right. I couldn’t even fathom making a gluten free/dairy free version of profiteroles. How was that suppose to work? Does it even hold it’s shape? Does it taste the same?
Intrigued by this challenge, we began to make the choux pastry dough. Although the ingredients are simple, the process is really what matters. It is so important that you get the dough to the right consistency/thickness in order for this to work. My advice is to re-read and re-read the instructions BEFORE starting. Getting the PROCESS right is key to success.
When it first came out of the oven, I gasped in horror. They looked…so flat.
Eventually, I realized that once filled with cream and drizzled with chocolate they were looked just fine. The star of this delicious cream puffs was actually the ganache. As simple as it may sound, the ganache was phenomenal. It was ever so rich, so creamy but not sweet. In just 5 minutes with 2 ingredients I had whipped up the best chocolate ganache/chocolate sauce I had ever had. I discovered that in my absence, my mom had eaten the remaining leftover ganache because it was so good.
As complex as choux pastry may seem, these were actually very quick, simple and easy. You definitely get your day’s worth of an arm workout, but they were so worth it! I can’t think of a more impressive dessert to make. Until I find my way back to europe again someday, for now, these profiteroles will have to suffice for easing my longing to be there.
- Choux Pastry:
- ¼ cup Coconut Oil
- ½ cup Coconut Milk (Full Fat)
- ½ cup Tapioca Starch (or Arrowroot starch - Keto-Friendly )
- 2 eggs
- salt
- Filling:
- Coconut Whipped Cream (OR use the solid coconut cream from a can of coconut milk)
- Chocolate Ganache (Recipe Below)
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Mix Coconut oil, milk and salt in a small pan. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a violent/rolling boil.
- Once the mixture starts splattering, continue to let it simmer for few minutes. It needs to reach a HIGH enough temperature in order to activate the other ingredients.
- Immediately transfer to another bowl. Add all the tapioca starch. Mix with a wooden spoon until you get a STIFF pale paste. (If your mixture is runny, just pour everything back into the pan and heat while mixing until you get to a stiff paste).
- Add first egg and quickly mix. Make sure to be quick to avoid cooking the egg. Then add the second egg and mix.
- You should have a smooth, glossy paste. It should resemble bread dough. (Whenever the batter looks runny, place it back on the stove to make it form a paste again. It will become runny but once cooled it will solidify.)
- Transfer to a piping bag (or a ziplock bag with the tip cut off).
- On a lined baking tray, pipe 1" rounds, about 2" apart. When piping out the batter make sure there is enough height so they that they will come out puffy.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Turn off oven and let it sit there for 15 minutes before removing.
- Once cooled, fill with cream and drizzle chocolate ganache. Serve immediately.
If you have already assembled your profiteroles make sure to fridge it to prevent the cream from melting.Let it thaw out completely before serving.
- ¼ cup dark chocolate (GF & Vegan)
- ¼ cup full fat coconut milk (remaining from the profiteroles)
- Heat the coconut milk until it starts to boil.
- Pour it over the chocolate and mix well.
LOVE,
Zoe & Mia
25
I was suggested this website by my cousin. I am not
sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed
about my difficulty. You’re incredible! Thanks!
Thank you so much! You’re so sweet!
Heya! I understand this is sort of off-topic however I needed to ask.
Does managing a well-established blog like yours require a massive amount work?
I am brand new to blogging but I do write in my diary every day.
I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my own experience and views online.
Please let me know if you have any ideas or tips for brand new aspiring bloggers.
Thankyou!
Danny,
Great question! Yes it does! It depends on what kind of blogging you want to do? Food blogging takes a long time simply because it takes time to plan recipes, test them, create and photograph them. If you’re talking about a personal blog then it might be more doable. The key is to be consistent. Your readers want to see post frequently. That is probably the hardest part – to create good content frequently.
Hope this is helpful!