Profiteroles @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Probably the most memorable dessert I had in Paris in April was a profiterole served at Parcelles restaurant. As you can see from the video below, the pastry puff was stuffed with coffee flavored ice cream. Then hot fudge sauce was poured over the top of the puff at the table. 

It was spectacular and of course I had to try to recreate it at home--what better way to continue to celebrate THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS?

Ingredients for the choux puff pastry

I was relieved to find that both the Joy of Cooking and Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi listed the same ingredients. I used their list:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup water.

1 stick a.k.a. 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into four pieces.

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup flour

Four large eggs at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 425 with the baking racks positioned at the bottom and top thirds of the oven.

Add the milk, water, butter, sugar, and salt to a medium sauce pan and bring to a low boil. Add the flour all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon over medium low heat. 

Once the dough comes together, begin to add the eggs one by one, beating thoroughly after each addition, until no signs of yolk and white remain. The dough will come together into a smooth ball by the end of the last egg.

Using a cookie scoop, place the puffs on parchment lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Put the cooking sheets into the oven and turn the heat down to 375. Bake at this temperature for 20 minutes, then rotate the pans up and down and back to front and back to bake for another 10 to 15. 

You will know they are done when they are beginning to brown and sound hollow when tapped. Transfer to a rack and let the puffs cool.

When it’s time for dessert, slice the puffs in half and add a scoop or two of ice cream in between. (We gave our guests the choice of chocolate, coffee, or strawberry--or a mix.) Finally, douse in hot fudge sauce. (Find that recipe here.) Ooh la la!

About THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS:

Is there a recipe for the perfect life?

Thirty-two-year-old ‘happiness guru’ Dr. Cooper Hunziker has it all—a dream job as assistant psychology professor at Yale University, a soon-to-be published self-help book, The Happiness Connection, and the perfect guy. But there’s a problem. Cooper isn’t happy.

Of course, it doesn’t help that she’s facing cut-throat competition for her tenure at Yale, an accusation of plagiarism that could cost her everything, or that her new book has irritated the department chairman, who assigns her to co-lead a happiness group at the New Haven library.

As her friendship with the other ladies in the group flourishes, Cooper finds herself questioning her choices. Forced to face a life-changing betrayal, a gargoyle’s wisdom, and her own traumatic past, can she navigate her own path to happiness?

READ CHAPTER ONE 

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