What to fill profiteroles with?

But we're talking about desserts, so we'll only be considering sweet fillings. The cream used for profiteroles can be anything: custard, meringue, butter, cream, coffee—the options are endless. If you're feeling fancy, you can even fill profiteroles with regular boiled condensed milk. These mini-cakes are usually served with hot drinks: coffee, tea, or cocoa.

Custard filling

Profiteroles with custard are a classic of French cuisine. The airy pastry pairs beautifully with the delicate, melting custard. Here's what you'll need:

• 5 egg yolks;
• 0.5 liters of milk;
• 25 g of flour and starch;
• 125 g sugar;
• 50 ml cognac or liqueur;
• vanillin (to taste);
• If desired (to make the cream more tender), you can add a little cream (33%).

There shouldn't be any difficulties with the custard; you just need to carefully study the recipe and try to stick to it:

1. Heat the milk over low heat. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks and sugar together. Add the flour first, then the starch. Of course, the recipe recommends mixing thoroughly each time. Add a little warm milk last.
2. Pour the prepared mixture (stirring, of course) into the remaining milk and heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until it boils. Boil the cream for no more than 1 minute. Then remove from heat immediately.
3. Finally, add the alcohol and vanilla to the brewed mixture, stir, and let it cool. The cream is basically ready as is. But you can make it more creamy. To do this, take a small amount of cream, whip it thoroughly, and fold it into the cooled cream mixture.
4. All that's left is to fill the mini buns with custard. One more touch: before serving these delicious mini cakes, the recipe recommends dusting them with powdered sugar or dipping them in melted chocolate.

Filling with condensed milk

Condensed milk cream is probably a Russian invention. After all, condensed milk is, one might say, a national product. The recipe for this filling is incredibly simple: take half a can of condensed milk and whisk it with a pack of butter. This mixture is then used to fill the small pastries.

Another option: mix 500 grams of mascarpone cheese with condensed milk, of which only 100-150 grams will be enough. However, here you need to be guided by taste.

However, you can do it even easier: fill mini buns with boiled condensed milk bought at the store.

Curd filling

As mentioned earlier, profiteroles can be filled with a variety of fillings. For example, a delicate cream cheese frosting is very good for this purpose. To make it, you'll need:

• soft cottage cheese (for example, Almette or Philadelphia) – 250 grams;
• 35% cream – 0.5 liters;
• 100 g sugar;
• a packet of vanilla sugar.

The recipe for this filling is quite simple: first, beat the chilled cream thoroughly with sugar (regular and vanilla), then stir in the cream cheese. Mix thoroughly until smooth. Fill the cooled cake shells with the resulting cream. You can inject the filling with a pastry bag or a regular spoon—whichever is more convenient.

Strawberry filling

Various jellies or mousses are often used as fillings for profiteroles: orange, banana, lemon, and so on. We suggest trying a very interesting recipe: strawberry cream. For this recipe, you'll need:

• 400 g strawberries (frozen berries can be used);
• 2 tsp gelatin;
• 3 tbsp. sugar;
• 2 tbsp. water.

First, if the strawberries are frozen, defrost them by placing them in a colander to drain off any excess juice. Next, soak the gelatin in cold water. Meanwhile, puree the berries in a blender. Add the sugar and softened gelatin to the pureed berry mixture, and simmer over low heat until the gelatin dissolves. Be careful not to let it boil!

After this, the container with the berry jelly is placed in a bowl of ice and chilled until thickened. The finished profiteroles are filled with the resulting mixture.

In conclusion, it's worth noting that you can experiment endlessly with the cream used for profiteroles. For example, you can add various additives: grated nuts and chocolate, pieces of fruit and berries—basically, whatever you like!

Video recipe for making cream for profiteroles