Black Forest profiterole stack


Feeds-4-6 - Preparation time – 25 minutes - Cooking time – 50 minutes

Ingredients

Profiteroles
75g unsalted butter
150ml water
100g plain flour – sifted
pinch of salt
3 medium free-range eggs – lightly beaten

piping bags needed

Crème patissière with cherry filling
4 egg yolks – lightly beaten
100g super fine caster sugar
25g plain flour
350 ml milk
1 vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
1 jar of kirsch soaked cherries – roughly chopped

Chocolate kirsch and cherry sauce
200g good quality dark chocolate – roughly broken
170ml double cream
150ml kirsch
1 jar of kirsch soaked cherries
Chocolate dipped cherries
250g cherries
100g dark chocolate – melted
sprinkle of sea salt flakes

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line two baking trays with parchment paper | Place the butter and 150ml of water in a saucepan over a high heat until the butter melts and the water begins to boil. Once boiling immediately add the flour and a pinch of salt, stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together | Reduce the heat and continue to stir for another minute | When the mixture begins to stick or coat the base of the pan remove from the heat completely and allow to stand for 1 minute | Now gradually add in the whisked eggs, beating the mixture vigorously one more time until it comes together in a glossy dough like consistency | It should still be able to drop off the spoon at this stage | Transfer the mixture to your piping bag and pipe or spoon onto your parchment rounds that are a little bigger than a tablespoon Wet your finger and pat the top of each round so you get a nice round and smooth top to your profiteroles | Allow enough room between each as they’ll grow when baked | Transfer to the middle of the oven and allow to bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden | Once cooked remove from the oven, make a small hole with a knife or scissors in the bottom or side and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the crème patissière, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until light and fluffy then stir in the flour | Place the milk and vanilla in a saucepan and bring to the boil | Remove the vanilla pod and reduce the heat to a medium low heat then add in the egg yolk mixture, whisk vigorously and increase the heat a little so it just about comes to the boil and thickens | The trick is to ensure you don’t over cook and scramble the mixture | Pour into a bowl and stir through your cherries, cover with cling film (to prevent a film from forming) cool and then transfer to the fridge until ready to use | When ready to use transfer to a piping bag and pipe into holes made in profiteroles.

To make the chocolate kirsch and cherry sauce add the broken chocolate to a bowl and set over a pan of boiling water, allow to melt | In a separate pan combine the cream, kirsch and cherries and warm (don’t bring to the boil) | Once the chocolate has melted simply pour the cream in and whisk until combined and you have a thick glossy sauce (for extra gloss you can add a knob of butter).

For the chocolate dipped cherries, simply melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water and dip the cherries in the mixture before laying them out on parchment paper | Sprinkle with a little sea salt flakes and allow to cool before transferring to the fridge | Serve the profiteroles piped with the crème patissière, a generous serving of cherry chocolate sauce and a scattering of chocolate dipped salted cherries.

Note – You can double this recipe for a seriously impressive stack.