Profiteroles

Profiteroles

The French have found a beautiful expression for the tiny cream puffs. They call them "profiteroles", which translated means something like "small profit" or "little gift". That sounds much nicer and tastier than "little oven cake" ("Ofenküchlein" in Switzerland) or "choux pastry fritter" ("Brandteigkrapferl" in Austria).

The small dollops, the size of a golf ball, made of sugarless choux pastry contain lots of hot air when they come out of the oven – and that is what makes them especially appealing. If you cut them in half, you can fill one half with whipped cream, vanilla cream or chocolate mousse as with éclairs. Put on the lid, and the sweet treat is ready.

Napoleon is supposed to have made profiteroles popular in Italy in the 18th century,where they are mainly topped with a chocolate sauce coating in Tuscany and Piedmont. You can find them in numerous variations in many Italian pastry shops under the name "profiteroli".

For those who prefer a savoury version, profiteroles can be filled with cream cheese (and fresh herbs), spicy patés or ragouts (made of game, veal or chicken) or vegetable purée (e.g. made with avocados).