Recipe: Iced profiteroles with chocolate sauce

Prepare a crème anglaise: In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with half the sugar until the mixture becomes pale and thick. In a saucepan, bring the milk to the boil with the remaining sugar and the vanilla pod, split in two and scraped with the tip of a knife. Pour a third of the milk over the egg yolk-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously, then pour the mixture back into the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring continuously with a silicone spatula until the cream thickens and coats the spatula (ensure the cream does not boil). Stir in the whipping cream and strain the crème anglaise through a china cap sieve over a bowl. Place the bowl in a container filled with ice and leave to cool. Churn it in the ice cream maker for 30 minutes and freeze until ready to use.

Place the butter, sugar, unrefined raw sugar, cocoa and flour in a bowl. Mix with your fingertips to form a dough, then crush with the palm of your hand until smooth. Place the craquelin dough on a sheet of parchment paper and cover with a second sheet. Roll out very thinly with a rolling pin and refrigerate until hardened, about 30 minutes. Carefully remove the first sheet of parchment paper and cut out the craquelin with the pastry cutter. Return the discs to the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160°C in natural convection mode. Prepare a baking tray covered with the Silpain® mat. Make the choux pastry: In a saucepan, melt the butter with the water, milk, salt and sugar, then bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour all at once. Mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Return to the heat to dry out the dough, stirring until it pulls away from the sides of the saucepan and rolls into a ball around the spoon. Place the dough in a bowl and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, beating vigorously with the spoon. Beat the third egg separately in a bowl. Add half to the dough, continuing to beat. Check that the dough is ready to use: Scoop out a little with the spoon, then lift it up. If the dough falls in a ‘V’ shape, it is ready. If not, add a little of the remaining beaten egg and repeat the test. Using a spoon or a pastry bag fitted with the pastry tip, make 3 cm diameter balls on the baking tray. Place a disc of craquelin on each choux and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, without opening the door, until the choux are golden. Check the choux are cooked by tapping them: If they sound hollow, they are done. Cool on a wire rack.

Finely chop the chocolate. Bring the milk to the boil, remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Mix well, add the butter and keep warm.Cut the choux in half. Fill a pastry bag, fitted with the plain pastry tip, with vanilla ice cream, then pipe a large scoop of ice cream into each choux, reshape the choux and pour over the hot chocolate sauce. Serve immediately.