Boozy Orange Liqueur Profiteroles with Vanilla and Candied Orange Peel
Everyone likes a profiterole. And that is because there is nothing not to like about them. Served in bowls with more cream or ice cream, they make a great dinner party dessert or piled high in towers for bigger occasions - they are the ultimate crowd pleaser. I made some at my mum’s request this Christmas but filled them with a delicious boozy orange vanilla cream and topped with candied orange peel for some texture. With a few tricks you will nail the perfect choux pastry every time. I used Jeremy Lee’s choux recipe as it is completely fool proof and is yet to fail me.
Put 120ml whole milk, 120ml water and 100g cubed unsalted butter in a saucepan with a 1 tsp pf salt. While this is coming to the boil, put two large pieces of parchment paper onto your work surface and sift 140g plain flour from one sheet to the other three or four times. Once the liquid in the pan has been brought to the boil, very quickly tip the flour in and beat continuously until with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to come away from the sides. Beat for 1 minute to cook out the flour *but no do not overbeat the mixture at this stage or your choux won’t rise*. Tip the dough onto a plate to help it cool down faster.
Crack 5 medium eggs into a jugs and beat with a fork.
Only once the dough is completely cool (if the dough is still warm the eggs will scramble), put the dough back into the pan and add the eggs a little at a time, beating until the dough is smooth and a reluctant dropping consistency.
Heat the oven to 160C fan.
You can chill the dough at this stage to use later or put it in a piping bag to use straight away. Line a large baking tray with parchment and start to pipe 18 walnut sized rounds arranged in rows and spaced apart by a couple of cms (you can use a little bit of your mixture to stick the parchment to your tray to make piping easier).
Dip you finger in cold water and smooth off the top of each round so the peaks don’t burn then sprinkle your entire tray with a few drops of water (this creates steam in the oven and helps the choux to rise).
Bake for 25 mins until golden, puffy and well risen.
After 25 mins use a metal skewer to poke a hole into the bottom of each choux. This allows the steam to create and helps create a nice hollow centre. Return to the oven with the steam holes facing up for a couple of mins to dry out the insides of the profiteroles. *DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THEM!*
Remove to cool.
For the whipped cream, whip 600ml double cream with 50g icing sugar, the zest of an orange, the scraped out seeds from a vanilla pod and a couple of tbsps of orange liqueur until it holds soft peaks (try not to overwhip). Place in a piping bag to fill your choux.
For the candied orange slices, finely slice the skin of an orange into strips making sure there is as little white pith on them as possible. Make a sugar syrup by adding 150ml water and 150ml granulated sugar to a pan and slowly heating until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat so the syrup starts to boil and add your orange peel. Simmer for 5 minutes then drain the slices, toss in more granulated sugar and place on a wire rack in a low oven at 80C fan for 30 mins.
Fill your choux with the orange cream, dip in some melted dark chocolate and top with the candied orange for ultimate indulgence.