If you want something different from the chocolate, vanilla or coffee eclair or choux, maybe try these chocolate raspberry profiteroles. You can choose to make choux or eclairs.
I will maybe never do the perfect shape choux or eclairs. For one reason, this is not a goal of mine. Somehow I like some irregularities here in the shapes. It has something like “home” about it and leaves space for the imagination to work out which shape choux I am going to pick! Here the shapes are quite irregular, I had a little extra choux dough which I topped a few pieces with.
The cream inside these chocolate and raspberry profiteroles is not milk-based, but berry juice-based. The whipped cream makes it lighter than a full custard.
It is a bit of work, but well worth it!
Ingredients:
For the choux pastry, use the recipe I have on this page HERE. If you have a Thermomix, feel free to use the recipe given with it, it works very well. I strongly recommend you read the tips on the page linked here. If the dough is too liquid, the choux will be flat and not dry well.
You don’t necessarily need to glaze the choux before baking (those in the photos didn’t get glazed).
For 18 good size choux, or here 22 (medium +)
- 4 eggs
- 150 g of plain flour
- 75 g of butter
- 250 mL of water
- 1/2 tsp of table salt
For the cream
In this cream, we use the raspberry coulis we are about to make instead of milk for the custard. Once the custard is done, we need to cool it down before mixing into it the chocolate whipped cream.
- 1.5 full eggs (the 1/2 came from the leftover one from the profiteroles) or 2 egg yolks
- 300 g of frozen raspberries
- 30 g of cornflour
- 50 g of white sugar
- 100 g of dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon of dutch cocoa
- 200 mL of liquid or thickened cream
To decorate
- 75 g of dark chocolate (couverture if available)
- a few fresh or frozen raspberries (optional)
Method
The choux
- First, we need to get the choux in the oven. Follow the recipe referred to above (HERE as well). Remember to check your choux are well dry before removing them from the oven. If not sure take one out of the oven and push it open to check if it is dry inside.
The cream
- Place the raspberry with a couple of spoons of water in a saucepan and stew until all unfrozen. Use either a small blender or a mashing tool to puree. Using a mesh strainer over a clean bowl, recover all the coulis you can. Discard the seeds.
- In a large bowl, mix the egg and sugar until pale, add then the cornflour and make sure there aren’t any lumps. In a saucepan, place the raspberry coulis and the custard mix. Cook over medium-high heat until thick (make sure not to burn) then transfer to a bowl. You will know when it is ready to transfer as the mix will have significantly thicken. Make sure not to boil. Now, if you have time ahead of you, place the custard in the fridge, else in the freezer. it needs to be cold to add to it the chocolate – whipped cream.
- Melt the chocolate with a splash of milk. Make sure it is all smooth, if necessary add another splash of milk. Add the cocoa powder using a small sieve to avoid the lumps. Whip the cream, once whipped, add the chocolate to it, mix until just combined. Do not worry if not perfect. Keep cold until the raspberry custard has cooled done to room temperature at least. Mix the custard and chocolate whipped cream together.
The profiterole
- Now you can finish preparing your chocolate and raspberry profiteroles. Using a piping bag and a round nozzle fill the choux. I don’t do a hole underneath (else it gets messy when you eat the choux) but a place on top which may have less resistance to the push of the nozzle. That spot will be covered by the icing/topping.
- For the topping of the chocolate and raspberry profiteroles, melt (overture if you have) chocolate over a bain-marie. Once the chocolate is melted, dip the top of each choux in it and place it back on the board. Add a fresh (or frozen) full raspberry on top.
The profiteroles will keep at room temperature for a few hours. Place in the fridge overnight.
