- 30 mins
- 100 mins
Ingredients
- Chocolate Sauce:
- 1/2 cup water
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Pinch salt
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- Pinch ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- Filling
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, very cold
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 2 cups mascarpone, room temperature
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- 3 oz Frangelico
- Chocolate Sauce, to serve, recipe follows
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped, for garnish
- 4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- 1 good pinch ground cinnamon
- HAZELNUT BRITTLE
- 2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts
- 3/4 cup white sugar
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put a large bowl in the freezer to whip the cream.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, butter, and salt and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, add the flour and cinnamon all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. Cook until the mixture forms a ball, has a slightly sweaty sheen to it, and has pulled away from the sides of the pan. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let it cool for 3 to 4 minutes. It does not have to be cold, just cool enough so the eggs don't cook when you add them. Using an electric mixer or lots of good old-fashioned elbow grease, beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Do not add the second egg until the first is fully incorporated.
Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag equipped with a large straight tip and pipe 1-inch balls onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Be sure to leave at least 1-inch between each of the balls, they grow! When done, dip your finger in water and smooth the top of each ball where the pastry tip was removed. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through the cooking time to insure even browning. The puffs should be light, airy, and dry inside. Poke a small hole in the bottom of the profiterole to allow some steam to escape. Cool on a rack.
For the filling, put the heavy cream and powdered sugar into the cold bowl and whip it to stiff peaks with. Put the Nutella into a bowl with the Frangelico and mix combined. Put the mascarpone in a large bowl and mix until creamy. Fold in Nutella mixture. Fold in the whipped cream. When the whipped cream is fully incorporated, spoon the mixture into a clean pastry bag.
When the profiteroles are cold, you’re ready to assemble. Poke holes in the bottom of each bun with a small piping nozzle. Spoon both fillings into separate piping bags fitted with small nozzles, and pipe into 15 profiteroles each, until they feel heavy and the cream wants to squirt back out.
Hazelnut Brittle
Line another baking sheet with baking paper and sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts. Heat the sugar in a medium pan without stirring. When it’s melted, bubble until it turns a golden caramel color. Pour straight onto the baking sheet, tilting to spread as thinly as possible and cover all the nuts. Once set, break the brittle in to small pieces. Place 1/3 of the brittle in a food processor to make a “sugar dust” to use later.
Chocolate Sauce:
Fill a medium saucepan with 2-inches of water and put it over medium heat. In a bowl large enough to sit on the saucepan without the bottom touching the water, add the chocolate, cream, butter, corn syrup, and cinnamon. Stir until the chocolate has melted and everything is combined. This is a pretty quick process. When the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat, and spoon it over the filled profiteroles. This is best served warm!
To assemble, dunk each profiterole in the chocolate sauce to cover the top as you stack on a serving plate. Sprinkle over the nutty brittle shards and dust, and serve the profiterole tower.