Dutch Chocolate Profiteroles

(Bossche Bollen)

SERVES: 6

PREP TIME: 90 MINUTES

COOKS IN: 50 MINUTES

Ingredients

• 2/5 cup/3.3 fl. oz/100 mL water
• 3 scant tbsp./40 g. butter
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2/5 cup/50 g. all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs (2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites)
• 1 cup/250 mL whipping cream
• 2 tbsp. powdered (icing) sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 7/8 cup/100 g. powdered (icing) sugar
• 2 tbsp. cocoa powder

Method

1. Put the water, butter, and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil.
2. Sift the flour over a bowl and add to the boiling water while continuously stirring.
3. Keep stirring until a dough ball forms in the saucepan.
4. Take the pan off the heat and two of the eggs, one by one, taking care to add the second egg only once the first egg has been incorporated into the dough. Keep stirring until you have a nice, glossy dough.
5. Divide the dough into 6 balls and lay these on a buttered baking sheet. Place the profiteroles in a preheated oven (437 F/225 C) for 20 minutes until they have turned golden brown and are cooked through.
6. Turn the oven off, leaving the oven door slightly open. Allow the profiteroles to cool inside the oven for 10 minutes.
7. In the meantime, add the powdered sugar, 1 egg white and half of the seeds from the vanilla pod to the cream and whip until stiff peaks form.
8. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder over a bowl. Add the other egg white, drop by drop, stirring until the mixture turns thick and shiny.
9. Fill a piping bag with the whipped cream. Now make a little hole in the pastry, stick the nozzle of the piping bag through, and fill each Bossche bol with the cream.
10. Brush the tops with the cocoa mixture.