Iced vanilla & caramel profiteroles

Iced vanilla & caramel profiteroles

Filled with rich vanilla ice cream and drenched in caramel sauce, these decadent caramel profiteroles make a spectacular dessert

Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

Serves 6 (5 profiteroles each)

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

Ice cream ready in 25 minutes plus freezing
Freezable

Method

  1. Put 150ml water, the butter and a pinch of salt into a medium pan and gently heat until the butter melts. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. As soon as it's boiling, tip in the flour in one go. Beat quickly to combine. TIP: It's important to tip the flour in as soon as the water boils, because losing too much liquid by evaporation will affect your pastry.
  2. The starch in the flour needs to be cooked out now. Beat well, over the heat, until the mix turns smooth and glossy and starts to come away from the edge of the pan. Tip the mix into a bowl and allow to cool a little.
  3. Give the mixture a quick beat, then start adding the eggs a little at a time, using a whisk, wooden spoon or electric beaters. You may not need to add all the egg - stop once the pastry is smooth and elastic and drops easily off a spoon.
  4. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Drop a medium nozzle into a large piping bag and scoop the pastry into it. Line two baking sheets with non-stick paper and pipe 15 x 10p-size balls of pastry onto each one. Use a wetted finger to smooth the tops. Bake for 15-20 mins until dark golden and very firm. Transfer to a rack, turn each one upside down, then leave to cool. Will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 days. TIP: The just-piped pastry buns have pointy tops, which can quickly burn. Tap them down gently with a wet finger before you put them in to bake.
  5. For the sauce, heat the sugar in a large, non-stick frying pan. Melt it gently, swirling every now and again until dissolved. Turn up the heat a little, then bubble until you have a dark golden caramel, about 5 minutes in total. Keep the pan on the heat and carefully stir in the cream to make a silky sauce. Add the Cognac and stir again. Pour into a serving jug. Can be made up to 2 days ahead - warm in the microwave for a few secs and stir to loosen.
  6. If making your own ice cream, place the milk and double cream in a pan. Take 1 tbsp of the sugar and add to the pan, too. Whisk the remaining sugar with the egg yolks and the seeds of the vanilla pods. Heat the milk until just boiling, then pour it onto the egg mix, whisking constantly. Tip back into the pan and heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Pour through a sieve and allow to cool. Now churn the mix in an ice-cream machine, or freeze it in a shallow container, beating thoroughly at least three times, until it is frozen and smooth. Will keep frozen for up to 1 month. Makes about 500 ml, 5 mins prep, 20 mins cooking and freezing.
  7. Allow the ice cream to soften slightly in the fridge for 30 mins. Scoop into a piping bag then, holding the bag with a tea towel, poke the nozzle into the bottom of one of the buns. Pipe in the ice cream until completely filled (see tips). Work as quickly as you can - you need to get the profiteroles back in the freezer before the ice cream starts to melt. Will keep well-wrapped in the freezer for up to 1 week. NOTE: Wrapping a tea towel around the piping bag insulates the ice cream from the warmth of your hands. If piping in the ice cream seems too fiddly, simply cut the buns open with a serrated knife and fill with teaspoon-size scoops of ice cream.
Try

Don't peek!

Don't be tempted to peek into the oven until 15 mins cooking time is up - the rush of cool air will cause any undercooked pastry to shrink back.

Gordon says...

Some people swear by poking a hole in the base of cooked choux buns to let out the steam and stop them going soggy. Cook them my way, until very dark golden and very crisp, and you won't need to. Make sure you put them upside down on a rack to cool quickly.

Tip: Parchment paper

Try this chef's trick to stop your parchment paper lifting off the baking tray as you're piping profiteroles - glue the corners down with a little of the mixture first. This works for meringues, too.

Make ahead

To make ahead, the simplest thing to do is to fill with the ice cream up to a week ahead. The pastry will still be crisp if you have cooked it properly. Make sure you serve them straight from the freezer before the ice cream has a chance to melt. If you like, you can cook the pastry up to two days before, re-crisp in a hot oven if you need to, then cool, fill and freeze.

Per serving

509 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 48g, fat 31 g, saturated fat 16g, fibre 0g, sugar 40g, salt 0.27 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2008.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Tara's GF

    08 March 2008

    Tara's GF rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    De-lish!

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  • Binder photo Lucy

    11 March 2008

    Lucy commented on this recipe

    These were really good, I made a chocolate sauce too! You dont need to line the baking trays, can just put a tiny bit of oil on them and wipe over with kitchen roll!

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  • Binder photo annemiek

    17 March 2008

    annemiek rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I actually thought this wasn't that special. I'd rather just eat the homemade icecream with or without the sauce. The choux pastry really doesn't add anything if you ask me. The ice-cream and the sauce are really good though.

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  • Binder photo Val

    19 March 2008

    Val commented on this recipe

    the ingredients include caster sugar in the profiteroles but the recipe doesnt mention sugar. Is it needed?

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  • Binder photo Laura B

    24 March 2008

    Laura B rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    These were nice (I cheated and used Green & Blacks and ended up licking my fingers a lot) but think I would prefer the pastry un-frozen. Val- the sugar isn't needed.

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  • Binder photo Joanne

    16 June 2008

    Joanne rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really yummy - made for a treat on Father's Day yesterday and all loved them! It is very faffy though....

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  • Binder photo Lauren

    11 September 2008

    Lauren commented on this recipe

    mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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  • Binder photo Porri

    23 October 2008

    Porri commented on this recipe

    Very good, the sugar is mentioned for the choux pastry but not in the method...I added it into the water and butter bit at the start...worked just fine!

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  • Binder photo southdown

    13 December 2008

    southdown commented on this recipe

    The ingredients for choux pastry included caster sugar, but there was no mention of what to do with it in the method! I checked other choux recipes and it doesnt appear to be a standard ingredient. So a bit confused!

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  • Binder photo giddinglyn

    21 January 2009

    giddinglyn commented on this recipe

    I've tried this recipe and it's quite tasty, but I have to say I've used better choux pastry recipes. I found the sauce was great until it hit the cold profiteroles then it turned to hard,chewy, sticking to the roof of your mouth, caramel! Still kept my guests quiet!

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  • Binder photo Cheesecake

    20 July 2009

    Cheesecake rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Could not have made it without Gordon Ramsey's excellent instructions and explaining each step. Thanks to GR I succeeded in making great profiteroles and it was easy. Highly recommended even to the unconfident cook - just follow GR's instructions.

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  • Binder photo beccyw1987

    17 October 2009

    beccyw1987 commented on this recipe

    amazing!!!!!

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  • Binder photo Kirst28

    06 April 2010

    Kirst28 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Fantastic recipe with easy to follow steps. It doesn't tell you when to add the sugar however, which as i understand it, goes in with the water and salt etc. Also, despite being very brown on top after just 15min they needed to dry out a little more in the middle. So having taken them out i just turned them over and put little holes in the bottoms for any steam to escape. I then returned them to the now turned off oven for 5 min (still with their bottoms/holes facing upwards). Sorted them out a treat!!

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  • Binder photo chriskitty572

    16 March 2013

    chriskitty572 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I am wheat intolerant. I have used this recipe and used self raising GF flour. They turned out great. Did only make 12 though. I have been using GF flour for most recipe's that have been on here and I have found that most are ok and others with a bit of tinkering are good but this really surprised me. Yummy

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Difficulty and servings

For the keen cook

Serves 6 (5 profiteroles each)

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 30 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

Ice cream ready in 25 minutes plus freezing
Freezable

Irresistible dessert

Ingredients

  • 50g butter
  • 60g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 2 eggs , beaten

FOR THE CARAMEL SAUCE

  • 200g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp double cream
  • splash cognac

TO SERVE

  • 300g good-quality vanilla ice cream , bought or homemade (see below)

HOMEMADE VANILLA ICE CREAM (OPTIONAL)

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Per serving

509 kcalories, protein 8g, carbohydrate 48g, fat 31 g, saturated fat 16g, fibre 0g, sugar 40g, salt 0.27 g

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