Active Time
45 min
Total Time
1 1/4 hr
Leave it to the French to come up with the classiest way of doing an ice cream sundae. Hide the grown-up coffee ice cream inside a crisp puff of pastry (the same dough that cream puffs are made from), then drizzle it with full-bodied chocolate sauce.
Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
For profiteroles:
For chocolate sauce:
Equipment:
Preparation
Make profiteroles:
Step 1
Chill a small metal baking pan in freezer. Form 18 ice cream balls with scoop and freeze in chilled pan at least 1 hour (this will make serving faster).
Step 2
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Butter a large baking sheet.
Step 3
Bring butter, water, and salt to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until butter is melted. Reduce heat to medium, then add flour all at once and cook, beating with a wooden spoon, until mixture pulls away from side of pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds. Transfer mixture to a bowl and cool slightly, 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 4
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well with an electric mixer after each addition.
Step 5
Transfer warm mixture to pastry bag and pipe 18 mounds (about 1 1/4 inches wide and 1 inch high) 1 inch apart on baking sheet.
Step 6
Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes total. Prick each profiterole once with a skewer, then return to oven to dry, propping oven door slightly ajar, 3 minutes. Cool on sheet on a rack.
Make chocolate sauce:
Step 7
Heat sugar in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling pan occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is dark amber.
Step 8
Remove from heat, then add cream and a pinch of salt (mixture will bubble and steam). Return to heat and cook, stirring, until caramel has dissolved.
Step 9
Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until melted, then whisk in vanilla and Cognac (if using). Keep warm, covered.
Serve profiteroles:
Step 10
Halve profiteroles horizontally, then fill each with a ball of ice cream. Put 3 profiteroles on each plate and drizzle generously with warm chocolate sauce.
·Ice cream balls can be frozen up to 1 day (cover with plastic wrap after 1 hour).
·Profiteroles can be baked 1 day ahead and cooled completely, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature. Recrisp on a baking sheet in a 375°F oven 5 minutes. Cool before filling.
How would you rate Profiteroles With Coffee Ice Cream?
Leave a Review
Reviews (37)
Back to TopDessert for Christmas Eve! So good. The chocolate sauce was a little tricky to make but it was really good. I made it ahead and warmed it up in/over hot water. Profiteroles were easy but I only served 2 to each person not 3 and that was plenty especially after a big meal.
Anonymous
Hun tington Beach, CA
12/26/2019
Can you make the Chocolate sauce ahead of time?
Anonymous
NY
4/21/2019
Turned out great! Super easy. The type of flour and size of eggs can have a big impact on the consistency. You need to put some energy into beating the dough. Love it, great low sugar dessert, only need 1/4 of the chocolate sauce.
andy_andersen
Ontario
10/6/2017
Overall the dessert was delicious and everyone wanted seconds! Profiteroles were very easy to make and I followed the recipe exactly. Chocolate sauce was harder to make. The first time I tried adding the cream to the melted sugar it seized into a hard lump. I threw it out and made a second batch, but HEATED the cream before adding it to the caramel mixture. Part of it still solidified, but most of it was incorporated into the cream and the last caramel lump was very easy to dissolve in the hot cream. This is an excellent dessert for company.
yekaterina81
Anchorage, AK
7/9/2015
Love the chocolate sauce!
RenoFoodie
Reno NV
2/16/2015
I followed directions directly but the batter was runny and the profiteroles didn't rise. Very high. Any suggestions? Thanks
Irmaerma
New York city
2/15/2015
The profiteroles are easy and delicious. The chocolate sauce is DIVINE. The most incredible sauce I've ever tasted. People beg for more. I make the profiteroles and fill them with pastry cream instead of ice cream, top with the sauce (I make double usually) and then I add whipped cream with a bit of cinnamon added. I would accept this as my last meal on earth.
cvillecmd
Viareggio, Italy
10/8/2013
Wonderful end to our meal, but a few things. Cooking the profiterole batter in the pot for only 30 seconds wasn't long enough to achieve the "shiny" batter mentioned in other recipes I've seen. I compared to other recipes that mentioned a cook time as long as five minutes in the pot. My profiteroles were pretty flat and just didn't puff up as much as I expected. I wonder if this is the reason why? Maybe it's how I piped them from the pastry bag... I'll probably cook for 2-3 minutes next time. As for the chocolate sauce, by the time the sugar was amber colored it was hard as a rock and utterly over cooked so watch carefully. I had to slowly dissolve the burned sugar in the cream which took a good 20 minutes and even then I just gave up on the small lump of burned sugar that still had yet to dissolve. Having said all this, it was amazing when all was said and done and I'll definitely make again. Others have mentioned adding sugar to the dough but I think sugar in the profiterole recipe is not needed . The contrast of the sophisticated profiterole pastry compared to the sweetness of the ice cream (we used vanilla) and the richness of the warm chocolate sauce was exquisite!
karimcgee
Portland, OR
8/5/2013
I am only reviewing the general concept and chocolate sauce, because I used another pastry recipe (it was nearly the same, so close enough!). This was one of the most impressive desserts I've ever made. I did it for a dinner party, and even my guests who normally "don't like dessert" gobbled it up! The chocolate sauce was SO good, and I loved using coffee ice cream instead of vanilla. Will definitely make again & again!
natalienaquin
New Orleans, LA
7/15/2013
This review pertains only to the profiteroles, but they came out beautifully and were very, very easy. I used salted caramel ice cream instead of coffee, and I just used purchased chocolate sauce, which was appropriate for the quickie dessert I wanted to whip up. Would definitely use this profiterole recipe again and again.
lschmidt
Portland, OR
8/2/2011
Made this for me and my partner and they turned out fantastic. I've not done much with pastry before but this is a fun easy and quick recipe. I would definitely make these again.
Dreamer
Cullman, AL
7/8/2011
What an easy and AWESOME recipe! I was so nervous because I've never made this kind of batter before but it was so easy and came out exactly as the directions said they would. I even made my profiteroles huge on accident and they still puffed up beautifully. Mine took about 15 minutes. And the chocolate sauce!!! Oh. my. GOD. so good!! I've never made caramel either and again, the instructions were spot on. The caramel base really adds another dimension to the chocolate. When you add the ice cream, it's over the top good. The cold, creaminess and the soft, puffiness and the warm richness of the sauce are awesome together!! Don't be intimidated, you can do it!
pandafish
Burlingame
3/15/2011
I made only the profiteroles without the chocolate sauce or ice cream (will be filling them with a different kind of creme tonight), & they were perfectly lovely. Actually I expected them to be good, but ended up being surprised by just how good they were. I doubled the recipe & used slightly under half a cup of whole milk instead of water & the flavor was very evident in the final product - in a great way! I also used salted butter & decreased the amount of salt I added simply because I didn't have unsalted butter on hand. Next time I make these (next weekend in fact!) I'll used unsalted to see the difference, but it sure didn't make them taste bad this time around!
normalityrelief
Evergreen, CO
2/13/2011
just used the dough recipe. followed others advice about adding milk instead of all water and a bit of sugar. made homemade vanilla ice cream and piped it into the middle with a pastry bag. served with homemade whipped cream and a chocolate/merlot sauce I had on hand. Was amazing!
rlipsky
philly
7/7/2010
so easy and so delicious, i'm addicted. Served with banana ice cream is the way to go :)
led420
australia
4/14/2010
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