Have you ever had profiteroles? it’s a pastry combining vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce… How does that sound?

It’s pretty simple to make once you get the pastry texture right. If you make it too dry or too liquid, your puff pastry won’t « get up » in the oven. Every egg is different, their weight can vary from one country or brand to another. That’s why, in order to succeed, it is more important to achieve a particular texture than respecting the given egg measure.

This profiteroles recipe is the original French classic but don’t be afraid to vary ice cream flavors, you’ll find your favorite! Need some ideas? Start by trying pear or coconut, they’re both amazing

Preparation time: 20 minutes – Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients (for 25 to 30 profiteroles)

1/2 cup (125 ml) of milk
1/2 cup (125 ml) of water
1 stick (4 oz/ 125 g) of butter
4 oz (125 g) of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 eggs (about 2 oz/ 60 g each)

Chocolate sauce

1/3 cup (85 ml) of water
1 tablespoon (15 g) of caster sugar
1 tablespoon (15 g) of unsweetened cocoa
7 oz (200 g) of dark chocolate
1/2 cup (125 ml) of whipping cream

3 cups (750 ml) of vanilla ice cream

Instructions

Prepare puff pastry

1/ Dice butter.

2/ Heat a large pan over medium-low heat. Add water, milk, butter and salt. Stir occasionally until butter is melt.

3/ Take pan off heat and add flour all at once, whisk. Put pan back over low heat and whisk for a minute so pastry dries up a little.

4/ Off heat, add one egg and whisk until mixture is blended and smooth. Repeat with two more eggs.

5/ Break last egg in a small bowl, whisk it with a fork. (Pastry mixture is ready when smooth and sticky. When taking it with a spoon, it should hang on the sides. If your pastry mixture is too liquid, add some flour (1 teaspoon at a time) until it gets sticky. There is no need for you to add the last egg. On the other hand, if you pastry is still hard to whisk you go and add the last egg.) Add whisked egg one half at a time and whisk pastry mixture.

6/ Pour pastry mixture in a piping bag. (If you don’t have one, use a freezer bag. You’ll cut one corner with scissors once it’s filled with pastry mixture) . Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

7/ Preheat oven to 400°F (200° C/ Th 6). If you have a convection oven, preheat to 375° F (190° C/ Th 5).

8/ Position opening of the piping bag just above the baking tray. Gently squeeze. Lift about 1/4 inch while still squeezing.When puff is about 1.5 inch round, stop squeezing and lift tip. Leave a few inches between puffs so they don’t stick together  when baking.

9/ Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Don’t open the oven before they’re ready!

10/ When they’re ready, get them to chill on a grill tray.

Prepare chocolate sauce

1/ Break dark chocolate in a bowl.

2/ Get water, sugar and cocoa powder to a boil in a small pan. Stir well with a wooden spoon until you get a smooth chocolate syrup.

3/ When chocolate syrup is boiling, lower heat and add whipping cream. Stir well.

4/ Take off heat and add dark chocolate. Stir well until you get a blended and thick chocolate sauce.

Prepare profiteroles (count 3 per serving)

1/ Open all the puff pastry you need with a knife.

2/ Place bottoms on serving plates, top with puff pastry remaining half.

3/ Top generously with chocolate sauce and serve right away.

Making chocolate truffles was a big first for me. It’s so easy, I’ll definitely try this recipe with different fruits… Raspberry is next on my list. The original idea is from Pierre Hermé. But I’m pretty sure my version is quite far from his as I adapted a recipe from the French magazine « Cuisine et vins de France » which had already been adapted from Pierre Hermé’s passion fruit and chocolate truffles! If you want to find out, you can always check out the famous Chef’s chocolate desserts dedicated book (Click here).

Now, I said it was easy but I must admit I had a texture problem on my first attempt. The recipe I originally followed was asking for much more honey and I ended up with a sticky ganache impossible to roll between my hands.
So I melted and added more chocolate to get it a more convincing texture… and it worked

Preparation time: 45 minutes – Cooking time: 5 minutes – Refrigeration time: 3 1/2 hours

Ingredients (for about 40 truffles)

0.6 lbs (300 g) of milk chocolate
1.7 oz (50 g) of dark chocolate
10 passion fruits
1.7 oz (50 g) of butter
2 tablespoons of acacia honey
1.7 oz (50 g) of unsweetened cocoa powder

Instructions

1/ Place a sieve on top of a saucepan. Cut passion fruits in half, take pulp with a teaspoon and pour it into the sieve.

2/ Get the juice to run into the saucepan mashing the pulp and seeds with a wooden spoon. (It may take a little while, but you’ll end up having almost only seeds left in the sieve.)

3/ Add honey to the passion fruit juice and slowly get to a boil stirring continuously.

4/ Break chocolate (milk & dark) in a small salad bowl and pour the hot passion fruit and honey mixture on top of it. Let chocolate melt.

5/ Gently whisk chocolate mixture until it has a smooth texture and a shiny color.

6/ Cut butter into small pieces, add it to the chocolate and let it melt. Once butter is totally melt, whisk gently. (Butter has to be perfectly combined but the less you whisk it the better.)

7/ Let chocolate ganache cool down. When it’s cold, cover with a plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

8/ Sprinkle cocoa powder in a plate.

9/ Take a small amount of chocolate ganache with your fingers and roll it between yours hands into small balls. Roll truffles in the cocoa powder. Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

10/ Right before serving you can roll truffles again in cocoa powder in order to give them a nice look.

I don’t know if it’s due to the winter weather that’s already here but I’ve been making (and eating, do I need to say?) tons of molten chocolate cakes lately. It feels so good when it’s cold outside to be baking and eating warm chocolate cakes that melt in your mouth 

You already know how to bake a dark chocolate molten cake, even have a recipe for a white chocolate ganache. Let’s introduce the white chocolate molten cake with raspberries!

White chocolate is very sweet, it tastes better in my opinion when balanced with a sour fruit. Raspberry is perfect for it but you can replace it with cherry if you like.

Preparation time: 15 mn (+ 1h in the fridge) Cooking time: 6 to 7 mn

Ingredients (for 4 cakes)

16 raspberries
5 oz (140 g) of white chocolate
1/4 cup (50 g) of butter
2 tablespoons (30 g) of golden or brown sugar
2 tablespoons of whipped cream
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 tablespoon of corn starch
2 eggs

Instructions

1/ In a salad bowl beat egg and sugar until mixture gets a lighter color. Add flour and corn starch and whisk.

2/ Heat a large saucepan half filled with water.

3/ Dice butter and chocolate and heat it, along with the whipping cream « au bain-marie » (click here for more detailled explanation on how to do it if you don’t have the right tool )

4/ Mix molten chocolate in with egg and sugar mixture until it gets smooth.

5/ Leave preparation for 1h in the fridge so mixture gets thicker.

6/ Preheat oven to 460° F (240° C / Th 8).

7/ Grease a muffin mold.

8/ Fill 2/3 of the muffin mold with chocolate mixture and top with raspberries.

9/ Heat in oven for 6 to 7 minutes.

10/ Take chocolate cakes out of the oven and pull them carefully out of the muffin mold.

Let your white chocolate molten cakes with raspberries chill down a little and serve them while they’re still warm.

Today is my blog-anniversary! I can’t believe it’s already been 1 year since I started French Cooking for Dummies. Let me tell you I’ve been enjoying it a lot. I don’t always find time to cook and be ready to take a nice picture on the two hours light I get in my dark Parisian apartment a day (on sunny days only, of course)! But all your nice comments always drive me back to it. My blog-anniversary is a great opportunity to thank all of you for your kind words. It’s always a pleasure to get your feedback .

What better recipe for a blog-anniversary than a chocolate cake? It’s a fun adaptation of the molten chocolate cake recipe I posted here some time ago.  This one has a white chocolate melting heart. There are many great versions of this recipe: ganache can be made with other types of chocolate. You want a tip? It’s also pretty good with salted butter caramel…

Preparation time: 15 mn (+ 1h in the fridge/ freezer) Cooking time: 6 to 7 mn

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 cakes)

Chocolate cake

7 oz (200 g) of dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
1/2 cup (110 g) of butter
1/4 cup (50 g) of golden or brown sugar
3 tablespoons of whipping cream
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon of corn starch
2 eggs

White chocolate ganache

3 1/2 oz (100 g) of white chocolate
1 tablespoon (15 g) of butter
1 tablespoon of whipping cream

Instructions

1/ In a salad bowl beat egg and sugar until mixture gets a lighter color. Add flour and corn starch and whisk.

2/ Heat 1 large saucepan half filled with water.

3/ Prepare ganache: Dice ganache butter and white chocolate and put it, along with the whipping cream, in a smaller saucepan or a metal bowl. Put in (or over, depending the size) the heating water. (This technique is called bain-marie; it’s the best way to melt chocolate without burning it).

4/ Pour white chocolate mixture in an ice-cube tray and leave in the freezer.

5/ Prepare cake: Melt dark chocolate along with butter and whipped cream « au bain-marie » like you did with white chocolate.

6/ Mix molten chocolate in with egg and sugar mixture until it gets smooth. Leave preparation for 1h in the fridge so mixture gets thicker.

7/ Preheat oven to 410° F (210° C / Th 7).

8/ If you’re going to use a muffin mold, grease it. If you have round pastry cutters, line baking tray with parchment paper and place pastry cutters on it. Cut pieces of parchment paper a little bigger than the height of your pastry cutters, circle them and cover pastry cutters sides with it (see picture here).

8/ Fill 2/3 of the pastry cutters with chocolate mixture. Add on top one or two cubes of white chocolate ganache (depending on their size) and push a little with your finger so ganache gets inside.

9/ Heat in oven for 6 to 7 minutes.

10/ Take chocolate cakes out of the oven and pull carefully parchment paper first and pastry cutters next. (If cooking paper doesn’t come out easily, they’re not cooked enough… Don’t break them! Put them back in the oven a minute more).

Whether it’s rum or wine, a sweet alcohol always enhances good fruits flavors… Here is a strawberry and peach salad recipe made with dessert wine. You can use any white wine as long as it’s sweet. You can recognize them easily thanks to their stronger yellow color. Some of the most famous French dessert wines are Montbazillac and Sauterne but, of course you can use a cheaper wine… I used a 3 euros one Just add more sugar if it doesn’t taste good enough. Good wine makes great dishes so don’t hesitate to use it if you have one at hand!

The salad on the picture is topped with pine kernels but I also love making this same recipe replacing them with mashed almonds. Use whichever sounds better to you…

Preparation time: 15 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

3 peaches
3 nectarines
1.1 lbs (500 g) of strawberries
1 glass of white wine (sweet)
1/4 cup (50 g) of sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
4 mint leaves
A handful of pine kernels or almonds
1 3/4 cup (450 ml) of water

Instructions

1/ Get wine, sugar, vanilla sugar and water to a boil. Let it boil smoothly until the strong alcohol smell is gone. Set aside.

2/ Clean nectarines and peaches, cut them in half, take bone off and slice them.

3/ Clean strawberries, slice their top off and cut them in half (cut pieces in half again if your strawberries are big).

4/ Pour fruits into the syrup so they marinate.

5/ When marinade has chilled, serve fruits in individual cups topped with sliced mint and pine kernels or mashed almonds.