Profiteroles with Dark Chocolate Sauce

January 2nd is National Cream Puff Day. So to honor that, I decided to try a recipe I've had marked in a cookbook for quite some time. Profiteroles with Dark Chocolate Sauce adapted from Kitchen Library Desserts.

Cream Puffs have been in the US since 1880 but were actually invented in the 1540's by Catherine de Medici's pastry chef for Henry II.



The one issue I have with the recipe I used was that it did not tell you to cut them or pipe them immediately. It said to let them cool in the oven for 5 minutes so when I took them out they had deflated. BOO. However, deflated or not, these little bad boys are not only phenomenal but addictive. I am officially a Profiteroles fan. These remind me of my favorite Krispy Kreme doughnut: Custard filled, chocolate glazed. It's like little delicate bites of heaven.

Profiteroles (Cream Puffs) with Dark Chocolate Sauce
1/4 cup chopped butter
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup flour
3 eggs, room temp, lightly beaten

White Chocolate Filling
1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tbs sugar
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup white chocolate chips

Dark Chocolate Sauce
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Spray a baking sheet liberally with cooking spray. Put butter and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and add flour. Return to heat and stir to form a smooth ball. Set aside and let cool slightly. Add eggs to flour ball with an electric mixer until dough is smooth and glossy (thick paste like consistency). Using a cookie scoop place balls evenly on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden and puffed. Turn off Oven and skewer a hole in the side/base of each puff and let dry in oven for 5 minutes. (When I took mine out they deflated immediately so I'm not sure how apt that direction is.)


For Filling:
Combine pudding mix and sugar in saucepan. Whisk in milk slowly until smooth. Heat slowly until boiling and thickening (mine thickened but I never quite let it boil, my fault). Remove from heat and add white chocolate. Stire until melted and let cool. Using a piping bag, filling each pastry with custard.

Combine dark chocolate and cream in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted and drizzle over filled pastry.