Profiteroles with Bourbon Ice Cream and Berry Coulis

I love profiteroles. I think they were the first “super fancy French pastry” I tried as a child that I really loved.

This weekend I went berry picking with my daughter and we picked over $7 worth of blueberries and almost $14 worth of blackberries. I made the mistake of bringing big boxes with us to fill and we spent hours hunting down the biggest and juiciest berries to fill the boxes. We wanted to pick nectarines as well, but had to run back home to get ready for a baby shower later that afternoon. Peaches are in season next week and I cannot wait to go back.

Oh and the farm we went to also makes these incredible apple cider doughnuts that melt in your mouth. Would it be too forward to ask for their recipe?

I’ve been spending the weekend using up all the berries so they wouldn’t go to waste and I made this big pot of jam/coulis. I separate the bits of fruit to spread on toast and reserve the coulis (sauce) to use in recipes and cocktails. Freshly picked berries are packed with so much more fresh flavor than what you can get in the store, so the results are out of this world. Seriously, once you gt a taste of fruit or vegetable that you pick yourself, you just can’t go back. You really can’t. Hence why I’ve been trying since 2011 to start my own garden. Speaking of which, my heirloom tomatoes are finally growing fruit and my rhubarb has three new stalks growing in! I think one of my mystery plants may be rosemary and the other might be eggplant.

Profiteroles are so amazing because you can do much to customize the flavors, decadence and occasion. I made these profiteroles with a boozy ice cream filling to create a sophisticated adult treat that is both refreshing and decadent. The bourbon is added at the end, so the alcohol content is still there – I don’t recommend sharing the ice cream with your kids!

More on the ice cream: I used a honey-flavored bourbon and I seriously recommend it. If you can’t find any, mix in a tablespoon of honey to the bourbon before adding it in. Trust me on this! I used the same vanilla ice cream base as the Peach Crumble Ice Cream recipe, but added another tablespoon of cream cheese for added creaminess. So good!

In the end you have a light, airy pastry with a dollop of creamy bourbon ice cream sandwiched in the middle and topped with a fresh, almost illegal addictive berry coulis (add a bit of the fruit for more texture). And if you don’t have berries or want something a little more simple, you can top the profiteroles with some powdered sugar. That’s okay too. 🙂

Don’t have an ice cream maker? No problem! Learn how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker here.

Profiteroles with Bourbon Ice Cream and Berry Coulis

 

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Serves: 8 - 11 profiteroles

Ingredients

For the Ice Cream

• 2 cups whole milk, divided
• 1½ cup heavy cream
• ⅔ cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1½ tablespoon cornstarch
• 5 tablespoons full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• ¼ cup bourbon

For the choux pastry

• ½ cup water
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs

For the Berry Coulis

• ½ cup blackberries
• ½ cup blueberries
• ½ cup strawberries
• ¼ cup sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

For the Ice Cream

1. Combine the milk (except for 2 tablespoons), cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a pot and bring to a boil on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally and remove from heat.
2. Take the remaining milk and the corn starch and mix well to form a slurry then add the slurry to the pot along with the vanilla extract and put back on the heat until the mixture is thick and creamy - about 2 - 3 minutes.
3. Cream the bourbon, cream cheese and salt together and slowly add to the cream. Fill a large bowl with ice and water (heavy on the ice). Fill a large freezer bag with the hot cream mixture and place it in the bowl to chill, adding more ice as needed. Put the bowl in the refrigerator to help speed the process. It should take about 30 minutes for the custard to fully cool.
4. Place the custard in the ice cream maker per manufacturer instructions.
5. Put the ice cream in a container and freeze for at least 3 hours.

For the choux pastry

1. Place the water, butter and salt in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and add the flour. Mix well until the dough pulls away from the pot. Put the dough in a bowl and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Add the first egg and mix until completely combined. You can use a mixer, but you can get the job done with a bit of elbow grease too. Add the second egg until completely combined.
4. Fit a pastry bag with a large round tip and fill the bag with the dough.
5. Create 1 inch balls of dough at least an inch and a half apart. Use a finger moistened with water to shape the balls so the ends where the pastry bag pulls away shows.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning halfway through. (try not to open the oven door for the first 10 minutes).

For the Berry Coulis

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a pot and heat on medium-high for about 5 minutes, or until the berries release their juices and begins to thicken. Lightly mash the berries to release all the juice.
2. Strain everything to capture the sauce. Keep the remains of the berry to use on your morning toast. 🙂

Assembly

1. Cut the cooled puffs in half. Scoop about 2 - 3 tablespoons of ice cream and put in the bottom half of each profiterole. Place the tops back on and drizzle the berry sauce over the pasty. Serve immediately.

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