Pages

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

ABC - Pumpkin Ice Cream Profiteroles with Caramel Sauce

Wow, this is my 100th post!!! It's been a little over 2 years since I started this blog. Back in the day I averaged about 1 post a month. But then I joined a couple baking groups and that certainly changed things a little bit :o) I would like to thank all my visitors, especially those who take the time to leave a comment :o) as well as my fellow baking group members for making blogging fun. It's nice to know there are people out there who enjoy reading my posts :o)


Back to baking... from Flo Braker's book, Baking for all Occasions, that is. This month's Avid Baker's Challenge recipe was chosen by Monica of Sweet Bites. Monica and I "met" through the Heavenly Cake Bakers. She's a great cook and baker, so when she decided to join my baking group, I was really excited. Not only did she join, she also assisted in the recruiting efforts and helped this baking group grow. Thanks Monica! How could I *not* ask her to choose a recipe, as a small token of my appreciation?


Her pick for this month, Pumpkin Ice Cream Profiteroles with Caramel Sauce, couldn't have been more seasonal.

Pumpkin Ice Cream Profiterole with Cinnamon-Honey Caramel Sauce

If you're a Flo Braker fan, love to bake or both, feel free to join us in our monthly baking adventures. Just email me at HanaasKitchen [at] live [dot] com. You can find the rules HERE.

Unlike most recipes for Cream Puffs, this recipe has you add a cookie topping on the unbaked Pâte à Choux. Flo's recipe start with making a sugar cookie dough. My only changes to the recipe was adding a pinch of salt and ground vanilla powder. This dough is rolled out to a thickness of 1/8" and then refrigerated. I put my dough circle in the freezer to speed things up. Then small circles of dough are cut out and placed on each cream puff right before baking.
Puffs without cookie topping

Puffs with cookie topping
The choux pastry for the cream puffs was like any other. Heat up liquid and butter, add flour, cool, add eggs. I like that Flo's recipe uses a small ice cream scoop for dispensing the cream puffs instead of a pastry bag. My ice cream scoop was a touch bigger than the one she recommended so I ended up with fewer cream puffs. I cut the recipe in half, and instead of 2 dozen cream puffs, I had 19.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about the cookie topping, thinking that the weight of the dough would not allow the cream puffs, to... well... puff up in the oven. But then again, I trust Flo and so I went ahead and did it. Although they didn't puff up as high as I expect from a "traditional" cream puff, they certainly didn't become flat either. I love how the cookie dough topping turns golden brown and crackly in the oven.
After 30 min in the oven, they're puffy and crackly

... and light golden brown. Yum!
These cream puffs are then filled with a thin layer of caramel sauce and pumpkin ice cream. Filling them with ice cream is what turns them into "profiteroles". Flo suggests using store bought caramel sauce or making her Buttermilk Bourbon caramel sauce. I don't use alcohol and I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so I used a different Caramel Sauce recipe. I like a Honey-Caramel Glaze recipe I used for Bee Stings which was for my other baking group, Sweet Melissa Sundays, so I used that recipe instead with a minor change.

Cinnamon-Honey Caramel Sauce
At first, I couldn't find pumpkin ice cream at my local grocery stores, so my friend and fellow ABC-er, Margot, recommended David Lebovitz's recipe for homemade pumpkin ice cream, which she tried before and liked. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make my own ice cream. When I went to the store today, guess what? I found a "limited edition" of pumpkin ice cream by Edy's. Yay!

Pumpkin ice cream. Yay!

Just add the top and enjoy!
These profiteroles are enjoyed straight from the freezer. Upon the first bite, you hear the crunch from the cookie topping, then you taste the wonderful buttery flavor from the cookie, followed by the spices in the pumpkin ice cream and the caramel glaze. The cinnamon addition in the glaze complimented the ice cream nicely.

Cinnamon-Honey Caramel Glaze
(adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book)

1/3 cup/2 3/8 oz brown sugar (I had leftover cinnamon/dark brown sugar so I used that)
3 tbsp/2 1/4 oz heavy cream
3 tbsp/2 1/4 oz clover honey
2 tbsp/1 oz cold salted butter
1/4 tsp lemon juice

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the (cinnamon) brown sugar, cream, honey and butter to a boil. Cook for 30 seconds more, then remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the lemon juice and let cool slightly.

Final thoughts/tips:
  • Hubby liked these a lot. It went like this: "Oh, you made Ice Cream sandwiches". "No, they're called Profiteroles". "They look like ice cream cookies to me". :o) These "sandwiches" got a 9.5 out 10. YES!
  • I made half the recipe but kept the cookie dough recipe the same, in case I'd like to make more profiteroles later, or cookies. Btw, I added ground vanilla bean powder and a pinch of salt to the cookie dough.
  • Don't forget to check out the ABC blog roll to see how others liked this recipe.

19 comments:

  1. Hannaa.. thanks for the shout out and being late may have some advanges... since I get to read everyone's take and then incorporate all those tips! I'm making them tonight and like you I'm doing half of the recipe as well... the Ice cream, is in the freezer.

    When I read the recipe I was doubful about the cookie top as well, now that I have read your take on it.. doubt no more!

    ReplyDelete
  2. They look so delicious. If I ever get over this nasty bug I'll be baking up a storm. Pumpkin ice cream is a limited seasonal thing out west, too.

    Congratulations on her 100 post! I'm so glad you decided to share your baking and cooking skills with us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. These were great. A nod to my love of all things French and a tribute to my mom and her fabulous cream puffs. As a matter of fact, when I talked with her on the phone Sunday morning she had just finished making a batch of them for her card club and I wanted one so bad. She makes the worlds best cream puffs.

    Raymond

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy 200th post! I love reading your blog. You're so creative! And great use of pumpkin too. I still have to try that ice cream.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations on your 100th post - they have all been wonderful.

    Your profiteroles/sandwiches look delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats on your 100th post Hanaa! This dessert sounds (and looks) so good - I love the combination of flavors. They're definitely moving quickly to the top of my must-bake list :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations on your 100th post - amazing how caught up we can get with our online cooking friends. It is great! I loved baking along with you. Thank You!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats on 100 posts! Your profiteroles look wonderful. I skipped the cookie top, but now I want to make these again so I can try it, it looks delicious. I loved this recipe.

    The new ABC site looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congrats on 100! So glad to be part of the group!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yay for the 100th! Nice puffs, I like the way your cookie dough is exact the same size as your puffs. I baked mine a tad longer I guess, they were real golden and the cookie dough quite brittle.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Found your blog via Brownieville girl's post where she linked to yours - and I made her brownies which were lovely. So hope you visit my blog and follow it too!
    Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  12. quelle magnifique préparation, riche et appétissante
    j'adore
    bonne soirée

    ReplyDelete
  13. There is an award for you over on my blog :-}

    ReplyDelete
  14. Delicious looking profiteroles and I love the cookie topping. I am going to have to bake these yet. I did find pumpkin ice cream.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It's a wonderful recipe! I love this delicacy

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for picking this recipe out of BfAO...I use her recipes all the time and haven't noticed that one. It's probably because of the ice cream. I never think to make desserts with an ice cream component outside of summertime.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Congrats on your 100th post! I am one of those who enjoys reading and sometimes comments. ;-) These profiteroles look like the perfect summer-into-fall recipe, when it's warm one day but chilly the next.

    ReplyDelete
  18. gorgeous, I would love to try these!

    Eid Mubarak to you, Hanaa. Wish you and your family have a blessed Eid! Love, Nadia

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.