Tag: profiteroles

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Solstice Profiteroles!

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What do you do when you’re under a heat advisory for a week? Well, I dunno, maybe bake profiteroles?

…

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I know, I’m crazy. But my logic is not completely illogical: a) it was already in the triple digits by noon, so my apartment was already hot despite the valiant efforts of my ceiling fan and occasional usage of the A/C (it’s a wall unit; I try to run it as minimally as possible to keep my costs down, ugh); b) I wasn’t going to bake until after yoga, which finishes at 7 pm so in theory, the apartment can then cool down overnight; c) I’ve already been sweating all day so why not turn my kitchen into a sauna? No big deal.

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Besides, making pâte à choux requires cooking the dough on the stove and a lot of stirring, and thus a bicep workout, which means I’d get hot anyway.

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SO! I made profiteroles on the second-hottest day of the year so far… and I survived. And they were delicious. Worth it!

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I will admit that I did a happy dance in my kitchen when I could see they were puffing appropriately – I was worried the humidity would defeat the puffiness. But no! I win. I win the battle of the puff. Heat: 0, Hayley: 1. Ha!

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In other news… more SF series, both drawn version and photographed version:

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Profiteroles seem like the perfect summer food, even if it requires turning on the oven. Light, airy, and filled with ice cream & summer berries – how much more summery can you get?! Especially if you make them during a heat wave. Double win.

Happy Solstice!

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Profiteroles with Salted Chocolate Ganache and Maple Almond Caramel

Spelt flour profiteroles are a perfect pastry shell for any kind of ice cream, making this the perfect summer dessert (minus baking in a zillion-degree kitchen). The spelt makes them a little lighter than whole wheat, plus possibly a little easier on your tum, depending on your biology; they are also refined sugar free (adapted from NYT Cooking, here). The chocolate ganache and the caramel are vegan, paleo-friendly & refined sugar free. Yield: 12-15 profiteroles, depending on how large you make them! & enough ganache & drizzle for serving.

For the profiteroles:

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
  • 3/4 c water
  • 3/4 c whole spelt flour
  • pinch of fine sea salt
  • 3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 425, and line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the butter and the water to a boil, stirring until the butter is melted. Reduce the heat to medium and add the spelt flour all at once, stirring to incorporate and cooking until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds more. Remove from heat, and let sit to cool for a 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs to the slightly cooled dough one at a time, beating after each addition (you could use a mixer; I used a spoon & got a bicep workout). The dough will break and come back together each time, and you’ll feel it in your biceps!

Feel free to pipe these suckers onto the prepared sheet about 1″ apart, or just use a spoon like I did – they’ll be less uniform but no less delicious. They should be about 2″ in diameter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from the oven and carefully poke a hole in the bottom of each to release steam (careful to not squish them as you do it, preserve the puff!), return them to the cookie sheet, turn the oven off, and let them crisp up in the oven for 4 more minutes – prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

These can be made a day ahead (or more, if you want to freeze the finished product) – just let them cool completely and store loosely covered on the counter, or in your fridge if, like me, it’s in the triple digits and your kitchen is actually a sauna. If you like, you can crisp them up in the oven at 375 for 5 minutes, just before serving. Fill with ice cream of your choice, and serve with ganache & caramel (below).

For the ganache:

  • 1/4 c full-fat, canned coconut milk
  • 1/2 c chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • generous pinch of sea salt

Gently heat the coconut milk in a saucepan or in the microwave (I used the latter; too hot for the stove!). Pour over the chocolate chips and let sit for a few minutes, then stir until combined. Stir in vanilla and salt. Let sit at room temp until ready to use; it will harden in the fridge (which is fine, just reheat gently until it’s the consistency you like).

For the caramel:

  • 1/3 c coconut oil
  • 1/2 c unsalted, creamy almond butter
  • 1/3 c pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 runneth-over tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over medium, heat coconut oil, almond butter, maple, and sea salt over medium until all are melted and incorporated. This shouldn’t take more than a minute or two, which is excellent for instant gratification. Turn off the heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool, then pour into a jar. Serve warm or cold (it will solidify a bit in the fridge).

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Posted on

Birthday Excess

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Happy Birthday to meeeeee!!!

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I made my own dessert. Is that weird?! I have no idea. I’m weird, so it’s probably fitting, right??

Besides, not much has changed:

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Yep. As my mom says, “To our sweet girl (who still attacks dessert with dedication and gusto–and looks just as cute doing it!!) Happy 24th Birthday!
Much much Love, Mom and Dad”. That’s fairly accurate, don’t you think?! And I know for a fact I still make that face…

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I’ve always wanted to make choux pastry. So I did!! Forget cake. I love it and whatnot, but it’s my birthday so I’m playing by my own rules. Besides, all you really need to do is makes something delicious that you can put a candle on. Because birthdays are definitely NOT birthdays without smelling candle smoke. Nothing reminds me more of a birthday than smoking candles!

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My birthday rules are thus (and I just made them up soooo they’re going to apply from now on):

1. Excess is required.
2. Jazzercise is an excellent way to start the day and possibly offset the excesses of dessert that will happen.
3. SPRINKLES.
4. Desserts must be excessive. Because… see rule number 1.

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I think these are spot on. And I DID go to jazzercise yesterday morning which was fab and sweaty as usual and then I went and ate at least a cookie if not two (whoops, not quite sure how that happened) and then I ran around more and then I made these. And then I ate them! Muahahha.

24 is going to be excellent.

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Chouquettes with Vegan Banana Cookie Dough Ice Cream + Salted Date Caramel

Wow really?? Could that title be any longer?? But it’s my birthday sooooo I can do whatever I want, up to and including making excessive desserts that are actually refined sugar free! Because that’s how I roll. Healthy indulgences in celebration of turning 24. Wheeee!! There is gluten, butter, and sprinkles in this. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Chouquettes are lightly adapted from David Lebovitz (amazing!!), here. The date caramel is my own brainchild and the vegan banana ice cream is just embarrassingly easy… I made a half batch of chouquettes, which yielded 10. Recipe as listed yields 25 ish. And obvs made extra caramel and ice cream, obvs. These are also excellent stuffed with real ice cream… or pretty much anything.

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For the chouquettes (which makes me feel really sophisticated to say, even if I mangle the pronunciation):

  • 1 c water
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp coconut sugar
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
  • 1 c whole wheat pastry flour
  • 4 eggs, at room temp
  • optional: chocolate chippies! I did them in half the batter

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 425.

In a medium saucepan, heat water, salt, sugar, and butter, stirring often, until the butter is melted and the water starts to boil. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the entire amount of flour, stirring until the dough is incorporated and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan (it should clump up into a big blob). Let cool for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to release heat. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until dough is silky and smooth. If adding chocolate chips, let the dough cool completely before adding them. If not, begin dropping dough onto the prepared cookie sheet (I found that a single large spoon worked well), about 2 tbsp’s worth per blob. They’ll spread just a little so don’t put them too close together. Bake for 35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove to a cooling rack and serve warm or at room temp. Freeze any leftovers (or really, just eat them immediately).

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For the vegan banana cookie dough “ice cream”:

  • several frozen bananas (however many you need depends on the amount of peeps you’re serving)
  • a good splash of plain almond milk
  • 1+ tsp vanilla
  • a dash of cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp (ish) peanut butter

Blenderize all that good stuff in a food processor until creamy. The bananas magically turn into this great ice cream-like consistency!! Like magic. So wonderful and happily guilt free. You can flavor this however you like, I usually use about 1 banana per person, and freeze them in chunks for easy blending. Eat immediately! It’s best fresh.

Then throw all this in the food processor [dry ingredients first, then the wet until it all comes together] :

  • 1 c raw cashews
  • 1/2 c rolled oats
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/6 c dark chocolate chips
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp unsalted almond butter
  • excessive amounts of sprinkles. ha.

Et voila! Vegan, refined sugar free funfetti cookie dough. Muahahha. Mix it into your banana soft serve and be really happy about life.

THEN.

Make salted date caramel:

Soak 1 c of pitted dates in boiling water for at least 5 minutes.

Chuck them all into the food processor, followed by a judicious about of vanilla + unsweetened almond milk + a pinch of sea salt + giant heaping blog of almond butter and blendy blend blend until it’s all smooth.

AND THEN.

Stuff the cookie dough banana deliciousness into a chouquette, top with a ridiculous amount of date caramel, and more sprinkles. Because… it’s your birthday. Or at least it’s mine. So you have an excuse to indulge anyway ;)

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