Profiteroles

This is my favourite desert of all time. :) Enjoy! 

Usually, I make them from scratch, but I found some frozen ones at Costco. At the end I'll include my favourite profiterol recipe!

Poppies Profiteroles (100), Top right shows them right out of the box (Before Thawing)
Photos on the Bottom are the Final Products! I topped them with chocolate ganache.

While these were delicious, they were much lighter than the profiteroles I make from scratch. Whipping cream, pastry filling, and ice cream filling can be used in profiteroles or cream puffs. I use a rich pastry filling and these were filled with whipping cream which gave it the lighter taste. However, I was very impressed with the look and taste of these!
Now, here is the homemade recipe :). Keep in mind these are time consuming to make.

Profiteroles (Pastry Filling & Chocolate Ganache)

Makes about 30 puffs. Mine turn out bigger than the frozen puffs shown above.

For the Pastry:

• 100g unsalted butter
• 4/5 cup SIFTED flour
• 2 tbsp. white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4/5 cup water (200 ml)
• pinch of salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (or one package of vanilla sugar)
• Lemon zest (Grate half of a lemon)

In a non-stick pot or saucepan, bring the water, sugar, salt, and butter to a boil. Once the mixture comes to a boil, rapidly mix in the sifted flour. You should have a dough consistency. Put the stove on a very low heat setting and cook the dough for 10 minutes. Make sure to keep turning the dough as it is easy to burn.
After cooking, let the dough cool. Once cooled, add in the lemon zest and vanilla. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a spoon to drop the dough. (Do not worry if you do not have perfect balls, bumps will mostly disappear once the puffs are baked) Bake at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. (This depends on your oven, but make sure your oven is at a low temperature and that you cook until they are slightly golden and puffy). The tricky part is maintaining the puffiness of the profiteroles.  If you simply take them out of the oven, they will slowly sink. The puffs need to be cooled down quickly. If you have an oven that cools down quickly, just turn the oven off and let the puffs sit in the oven until they are mostly cool then put them in the fridge. Option 2 is a little less professional, but it is the one I use. Take the puffs out of the oven and use  a blow dryer on a cool setting to quickly cool the puffs and place them in the fridge.

For the Pastry Cream:

• 1 egg
• 100 g flour (Approximately 1/2 cuo)
• 150g white sugar (2/3 cup)
• 500ml milk (2 cups or half a litre)
• 1 tsp lemon zest (This can be put to taste, I like to put more)
• 2 tsp vanilla or 1 package vanilla sugar
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter 

In a non-stick pot or saucepan, add the milk. As the milk is heating, slowly stir in the sugar and flour making sure to dissolve both. (This will happen as the milk's temperature increases and as you keep stirring) Beat the egg and stir rapidly while adding the egg to the mixture. Be careful as if the mixture is too hot at this point, the egg might cook in lumps. This is why it is important to stir rapidly. Cook and stir the cream until it is a thicker consistency. (It is not necessary to bring to a boil). Once it is the right consistency, remove the cream from heat and stir in the vanilla, lemon zest, and butter. Let cool.

For the Chocolate Ganache:

• 3/4 cup heavy cream 
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• Chocolate chips to taste

In a saucepan, bring heavy cream and butter to a boil and quickly remove from heat. Be very careful not to burn the mixture. Add in chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate melts. Let cool. 

Assembly

After puffs are completely cooled, make slits in each with a knife. (Cut half way) Fill puffs with completely cooled pastry cream. Top with the chocolate ganache. 

VOILA! Super delicious cream puffs :)

Vanilla Buttercake

This cake is a perfect happy medium. It isn't as dense as a regular buttercake, but isn't too soft either. Super tasty!

Ingredients

• 1.5 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk

Preparation

1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. 
2. Cream the butter and blend in the white sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. 
3. Add dry mixture alternately with milk. 
4. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are super soft and sooo yummy! I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin, but in this recipe it works and doesn't have a strong pumpkin taste like a pie would.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cup sugar
• 1.5 cup pumpkin (You can use canned pumpkin)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 3 tbsp. baking powder
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 12 oz chocolate chips (2 cups)

Preparation

Combine wet ingredients. (Including pumpkin and chocolate chips) Mix dry ingredients in a seperate bowl. Slowly mix in dry ingredients.