Berries and Cream Craquelin Profiteroles Recipe
Berries and cream is a classic flavor combination that is such a perfect fit with most desserts. Profiteroles are no exception. This Berries and Cream Craquelin Profiteroles recipe is a little bite of heaven that features a perfect choux pastry with a delicate layer of cookie dough on top, which adds a nice crunch. This is then filled with a mixed berry jam and nice fresh whipped cream. (Are you drooling yet?)
While not extremely hard to execute, it is a recipe for adventurous or advanced home bakers, since it requires various steps. A little advice: weigh the eggs in grams for a better result. (Here’s our favorite kitchen scale if you need one!)
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Berries and Cream Craquelin Profiteroles Recipe Tips:
- If you want to store the profiterole shells, bake, cool completely and freeze in an airtight container.
- To use again, place in the oven at 375 F/190 C until hot.
- Since this recipe involves multiple steps, make sure you read through the full thing before beginning.
- You can play around with different flavor combinations if you’re not a fan of berries. Lemon, orange, chestnut, cinnamon, and even chocolate are delicious.
Berries and Cream Craquelin Profiteroles Recipe
Ingredients
Craquelin
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
Choux
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs, (150 g)
Fillings
- 2 cups mixed berries, (raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry)
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar
Equipment
- Circular cutter
- Piping bag
Instructions
Craquelin
- Cream the butter with the brown sugar in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment until you have a pale, glossy and fluffy cream, about 5 minutes in medium high speed. Not all of the sugar will dissolve, don’t worry about that.
- Take the bowl off the stand mixer and add the salt and flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until you have a stiff homogenous dough. Form a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or up to a week.
- Roll the dough between two pieces of parchment until it is ⅛ inch thick. Refrigerate again for 15 minutes. Then, remove from the fridge and punch 30 circles that are 1.2 inch in diameter. Transfer circles to a plate and refrigerate until ready to use.
Choux
- Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C.
- In a medium sized saucepan over medium low heat add the milk, sugar, salt and butter until the fat dissolves and the mixture starts to simmer.
- Add all the flour to the milk mix and immediately stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to avoid lumps forming. A soft dough and a film should form in the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring often with the spoon for about 3 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of the stand mixer with the paddle attachment and let it cool for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the eggs until there are no streaks of egg white.
- Turn on the mixer and add ¼ of the beaten eggs at a time. When the dough has absorbed the eggs, add more. You might not need to add all of the egg mixture: before adding the final portion, check your dough. You are looking for a glossy, smooth texture that creates a V shaped trail when it falls off the paddle. If you achieve this before adding the complete egg mixture, do not add more. If not, use the whole quantity.
- Transfer the choux dough to a pastry bag and line one baking sheet with parchment paper. On the back of the parchment, draw 30 1.2 inch diameter circles, spaced 1 ½ inches apart from each other.
- Pipe the dough on top of the drawn circles. Top each one with a craquelin circle.
- Take the profiteroles to the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 F/190 C. Bake for 30 minutes, until the profiteroles have risen and are golden brown. After the first 20 minutes of the bake, rotate the pan quickly. Turn off the oven and leave them inside with the door closed for 5 minutes. Then leave them inside for another 10 minutes with the door halfway open. Take to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Fillings
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook the berries, lemon juice and sugar until the mix boils and begins to thicken. About 5-7 minutes over medium heat. Take off the stove and cool completely.
- Whip the heavy cream until it reaches stiff peaks. Add in the vanilla extract and sugar and whip until you have a homogenous and stable cream. Transfer to a pastry bag.
- Cut the top of the profiteroles. Fill the profiteroles with half as much berry jam as vanilla cream. Serve immediately after filling.
Recipe and photos by Abril Macías.