Pumpkin Profiteroles with Sea Salt Caramel
From Jordan Mason
Fall-inspired desserts are my favorite flavors of the year! As a prior pastry chef, this profiterole recipe was a best seller on my seasonal catering menu and has stuck with me as a go-to holiday recipe through the years. If your get-togethers are adult-only, I recommend adding in a splash of whiskey to the caramel sauce!
Ingredients
For the Pate a Choux:
1/2 tsp popcorn salt
1 cup water
For the Pumpkin Pastry Cream:
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
For the Caramel:
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1/4 cup water
Instructions
You’ll first want to roast the pumpkin at 400F. Cut it in half, remove the seeds, and place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Roast for 45-60 minutes and the flesh begins pulling away from the skin. Puree the flesh of the pumpkin in a blender or food processor until smooth. While that is baking, make the pate a choux and get them into the oven. While it’s baking, you can begin the pumpkin pastry cream. Put that in a shallow dish to cool in your refrigerator. Lastly, you’ll want to make the caramel sauce. When the pate a choux and pastry cream is cool, you can begin assembly!
For the pate a choux:
In a pot, boil the butter, salt, sugar, and water.
Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture cleans the sides of the pot and the bottom of the pot has formed a crispy layer, it should start to have a nutty smell to it (around 5-6 minutes).
Remove from the heat and place the mixture in the bowl of a stationary mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix on low until the flour mixture is cool.
Mix on medium speed while adding the eggs one at a time. Fully incorporate each egg before adding the next.
When all the eggs are added, put the batter in a pastry bag and a large round tip and pipe onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. For profiteroles, these should be one inches round. Bigger cream puffs can also be made with this batter.
Bake at 375F until they are light brown on the sides and bottom. If you break one open it should not be wet or eggy on the inside, if so, bake a little longer. (Probably around 15 minutes.)
For the pastry cream:
Divide the sugar into equal amounts.
Bring milk and sugar to simmer in a pot.
In a bowl, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, and egg yolks.
In a separate bowl combine the pumpkin, vanilla, and spices.
Temper milk in yolk mixture by adding a little bit of the hot milk to the yolk mixture while whisking – adding too much at a time and not stirring can result in scrambling the eggs.
Return the mixture to the pot and stir until thick on medium heat – make sure to constantly stir to avoid burning the bottom, and the flavor should not have a starchy mouthfeel to it.
Remove from the stove and mix in the butter and pumpkin mixture.
Strain the pastry cream into a shallow dish and cover directly with plastic wrap – make sure the plastic wrap is touching the pastry cream otherwise the top will dry out.
Put in the refrigerator to cool.
For the caramel:
Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a pot over the stove.
Cook this mixture, without stirring, until it is a dark amber color. The darker the color gets, the more flavorful it becomes – just be sure not to burn it!
Turn off the heat, add in butter and stir constantly with a whisk.
Add warmed cream, stir – steam will come up, so wear an oven mitt on your mixing hand.
Add maple.
Pour into a glass or ceramic bowl until ready to use.
Assembly:
When everything is cooled (caramel should still be warm), it is time to assemble!
Poke small holes in the bottom of the pate a choux – big enough to fit a pasty bag.
Fill a pastry bag with the pastry cream and cut a small hole in the tip of the bag.
Using the pastry bag, fill the pate a choux. Make sure to hold the bag so the pastry cream does not come out of the top of the bag, sometimes it helps to twist the top of the bag some to avoid this. Cutting a bigger hole can help too if the pastry cream is not filling the pate a choux very quickly.
These can now be dipped into the caramel. If the caramel is too thick then place it in the microwave.
Finish them with sea salt on top of the caramel! Enjoy!