Chef Patrick Shrupka,
Amici
Chef Patrick uses a styrofoam cone as a structure for the tower and removes it before service. He suggests making profiterols the night before you build.
Ingredients
Choux Paste Profiterols
1 cup water
Pinch salt
5 Tbsp butter
4 cups & 2 tsp sugar, divided
1 cup flour
4 eggs
Pastry Cream
4 cups whipping cream
Zest of 2 lemons
1 Tbsp icing sugar
Method
Choux Paste Profiterols
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In a saucepan, bring water, salt, butter and 2 tsp of sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and add flour. Mix quickly.
3. Return pan to heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture starts to pull away from the pan, about one minute. Cool slightly.
4. Beat in two eggs. Then beat in two more, one at a time, until smooth and glossy.
5. Place mixture in piping bag with tip of your choice and pipe small balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the profiterols are dry inside.
5. Once cooled, make a small hole in bottom of each profiterol and pipe in pastry cream. Freeze overnight.
To Build
1. In a fry pan, over medium-high heat, melt sugar, stirring constantly. Dip profiterols into sugar and build around styrofoam to form cone shaped tower.
2. For spun sugar: tie two forks back to back. Dip in sugar and in a whipping motion spread strands across a broom handle. Wrap around cone. *Note: this is very messy and best done outside.
Yield 20 servings