Cream Puffs (Profiteroles) with Chocolate Drizzle

Cream Puffs:

1 stick of unsalted butter cut into pieces

1 cup of water

1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 cup of all-purpose flour

4 large eggs (plus one egg for the egg wash)

Chocolate Sauce:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1/4 cup of heavy cream

1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste

1 tablespoon of light corn syrup

5 ounces of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate

1 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

a pinch of kosher salt.

Instructions:

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F. Place one rack of the oven in the lower half of the oven and one rack in the upper half of the oven.

Batter:

Add butter, water and salt to a saucepan over low heat. Cook while stirring from time to time until the butter has melted. Once the butter has melted, increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat and mix in all of the flour. Once the flour is incorporated, return the pan to the heat and continue to cook while stirring constantly for one minute to dry out the batter.

Quickly transfer the batter to a stand mixer and beat on low for one minute to cool the batter slightly. Add the eggs one at a time while mixing at low speed. (Allow each egg to combine completely before adding another.) After all the eggs have been added, the mixture should stick to the side of the bowl and look shiny and stretchy. The batter should pass the string test. (If you pinch a small bit between the fingers of two hands you should be able to stretch it an inch or two. If the batter is not stretchy, add another egg and continue blending until it is smooth and stretchy. Additional water can be added a drop at a time in order to reach the desired stretchiness.

Spoon the batter into a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe the batter in 2 1/2-inch circles that are 1/2 inch tall onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. (A kitchen shear sprayed with vegetable oil will work to snip the end of the batter to disconnect when piping the circles.)

Baking:

Dip your finger in a beaten egg yolk and paint a light coating onto the surface of each circle. Bake for 20 minutes and then lower the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees then switch the pans from top to bottom and rotate front to back. Bake for another 20 minutes. Then decrease the temperature to 300 degrees and bake another 10 to 15 minutes to dry out the interior of the cream puffs. (At this point the cream puffs should be a deep golden color with no bubbling around the sides.) Transfer to a rack until completely cooled.

Chocolate Sauce:

Add butter, heavy cream, vanilla paste, corn syrup and chocolate pieces to a small sauce pan on low heat (stirring constantly) until just melted. Stir to combine. Remove from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth. Set aside and keep warm until ready to use.

Assemble:

Cut each cream puff in half with a serrated knife and add a tablespoon of vanilla ice cream on one half of a cream puff. Place the other half of the cream puff on top of the ice cream and freeze until needed.  (Optional)

Serve:

Transfer cream puffs to a plate and top with the warm chocolate sauce. Serve immediately!