When you hear the word Profiterole for the first time, you are bound to wonder if it is a financial term related to profits. And you might not be too wrong as the word profiterole means "small profit, gratification" in French. So, what is profiterole?
Imagine a yummy pastry ball that's kind of like a little balloon. But instead of air inside, it's filled with something tasty like whipped cream, custard, or even ice cream! And you decorate them with chocolate sauce, caramel, or powdered sugar. That, my friends, is profiterole. Some bakers also make savory profiteroles, filled with pureed meats, cheese, and so on. They were formerly common garnishes for soups.
Magical baking
Making profiteroles is like making magic pastry. First, you make dough, then you shape it into little balls and bake them until they puff up and get all hollow inside. After they cool down, you fill them up with the yummy stuff using a special tool called a pastry bag. For the sweet ones, you can glaze them and decorate them with toppings.
Plain. Glazed. Iced. Even a Dessert Castle.
The most common presentations are pastry cream, whipped cream, or ice cream filling. They are then topped with powdered sugar or chocolate ganache and more whipped cream. They are also served plain, with a crisp caramel glaze, iced, or with fruit.
Filled and glazed with caramel, bakers even create a dessert castle called croquembouches. And guess what? They can also be used to make other delicious cakes, like St. Honoré Cake.
Is it a new thing?
Profiteroles have a fascinating history too! They've been around since the 16th century. In Jules Gouffé's Livre de cuisine from 1870, he describes a profiterole as a tiny pastry made from choux pastry dough. Gustave Garlin, in Le Cuisinier moderne from 1887, talks about profiteroles filled with cream and then coated with smooth and shiny chocolate or coffee glaze.
But the ones we know today were invented in the 19th century by a pastry chef named Antoine Carême! Carême made profiteroles famous by filling them with cream and topping them with warm caramel. But he didn't stop there! He also stacked them on top of each other to create the croquembouche.
Where can you find your profiterole fix?
If you are in Bangalore, you need to visit LE KÉNE (review coming soon). They have the most amazing collection of profiteroles. They have options such as banana cream filling, raspberry, hazelnut, and even pina colada.
Fun fact: Place filled profiteroles in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. Warm a bit and enjoy whenever you want.