Double Chocolate and Caramel Profiteroles

Double chocolate and caramel profiteroles - crisp choux pastry filled with milk chocolate mousse and topped with dark chocolate sauce and caramel.

📝 Ingredients

• 170 g good quality milk chocolate
• 7 medium egg whites (see note 1)
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 40 g caster sugar
• 60 g unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 40 g plain flour
• 45 g strong white bread flour (see note 2)
• 2-3 large eggs
• 120 ml water
• 30 g granulated sugar
• 10 g unsalted butter (2 tsp)
• 20 ml single cream (or 10ml double cream and 10ml full fat milk)
• 50 g dark chocolate
• 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
• 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- Make the Chocolate Mousse ---
2. 2Put the milk chocolate (170g) into a pan, and cook on a very low heat until it has melted (alternatively you can melt the chocolate over a bain marie or in microwave). Stir regularly to ensue that the chocolate doesn't burn and remove from the heat as soon as it has melted.
3. 3Separate 7 eggs and put the egg white and lemon juice (¼ tsp) into a large bowl.
4. 4Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
5. 5Add the caster sugar (40g) and beat until the egg white forms stiff peaks (where if you lift out the beater the egg holds it shape).
6. 6Put the melted chocolate into a large bowl and add one-third of the egg whites. Beat this egg white into the chocolate as fast as you can (don't worry about knocking out the air) until fully combined. You need to beat as fast as you can to ensure that the chocolate does't split.
7. 7Once the chocolate and egg white are fully combined, add the remaining egg white and carefully fold it into the chocolate until fully combined (this time you do want to take care not to knock all of the air out).
8. 8Cover and place into the fridge for at least two hours to set.
9. 9--- While the chocolate mousse is setting, make the choux pastry ---
10. 10Pre heat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan.
11. 11Line a large baking tray with baking parchment or a bake-o-glide sheet (or similar).
12. 12Sift the flour (45g strong white flour and 40g plain flour) onto a sheet of baking parchment (this will make it easy to tip into the mixture quickly later).
13. 13Put the butter (60g), salt (¼ tsp), caster sugar (1 tsp) and water (120ml) into a medium sized saucepan. Heat on a medium-high heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is boiling.
14. 14Tip the flour into the butter mixture and mix together as quickly as possible until they have formed a lump of dough.
15. 15Continue to stir vigourously for 2 minutes and then remove from the heat and put into a large bowl. Beat the dough with an electric mixer for a few minutes until it has cooled.
16. 16Add the first two eggs and beat the mixture until fully combined. Beat the 3rd egg in a separate bowl or jug and gradually add it to the mixture (beat well after each addition) until you have the right consistency - When you lift out the beaters the dough should just run from them in a steady stream, however you should still be able to see the pattern this makes on the surface of the dough in the bowl. Remember to add the 3rd egg gradually - it's easy to add more but you can't take it away!
17. 17Spoon the mixture into a piping bag, and snip the end so you have a hole about 1½cm in diameter.
18. 18Pipe the pastry onto your prepared baking tray in 2½cm rounds (1") about 2½cm apart (don't put them too close together or you'll end up with one giant profiterole!).
19. 19Wet your finger and gently smooth the pointy areas where you removed the piping bag (this will give you nice round profiteroles).
20. 20Place into the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. A tip to tell if they're cooked is to lift them up. If they're cooked they'll feel pretty weightless like a ping-pong ball. If they still feel like there's a little weight there then pop them back into the oven for a couple more minutes and check again.
21. 21Once cooked, pierce the bottom of each profiterole with a skewer - this will help it to dry and and give you nice crisp pastry.
22. 22Transfer to a wire rack to cook.
23. 23--- While the choux pastry is cooking, make the caramel sauce ---
24. 24Measure out all of your ingredients into separate bowls (30g granulated sugar, 10g butter, 20ml single cream). Cut the butter into small cubes (this will help you to incorporate it into the sauce quickly).
25. 25Put the sugar into a small saucepan and spread it evenly across the bottom. Place onto a medium heat.
26. 26Leave the sugar alone until it has started to melt. Once it has started to melt, gently move it about with a spatula to encourage any unmelted sugar into the hot bits to melt.
27. 27Once all of the sugar has melted continue to stir gently until it has turned a light brown colour.
28. 28As soon as the caramel has turned light brown, carefully add the butter and whisk rapidly until the butter has melted and is fully combined.
29. 29Turn off the heat and add the cream, again whisking rapidly until combined.
30. 30If there are any small sugar crystals pass the sauce through a metal sieve to remove them.
31. 31Put into a bowl or jug and refrigerate to cool.
32. 32--- Just before you're ready to serve, make your dark chocolate sauce ---
33. 33Put the dark chocolate (50g), butter (½ tbsp) and golden syrup (½ tbsp) into a small saucepan.
34. 34Heat on a very low heat until the chocolate and butter have melted. Keep stirring to ensure that the chocolate doesn't burn. Once everything has melted, remove from the heat and place in a small bowl.
35. 35--- Build your profiteroles ---
36. 36Remove your caramel sauce from the fridge to allow it to come to room temperature (otherwise it'll be too thick to drizzle).
37. 37Fit a piping bag with a round nozzle about ½cm in diameter.
38. 38Fill the piping bag with chocolate mousse. Carefully insert the nozzle into the bottom of each profiterole and fill with mousse.
39. 39Dip each profiterole in the dark chocolate sauce and put them onto your serving dish (or individual bowls), drizzle with the caramel sauce ensuring the each profiterole has some sauce.
40. 40Serve.