Deep, rich mocha profiteroles with espresso ice-cream, caramelised cocoa nibs & a silky mocha sauce. Jump to Recipe
I have been bursting to share a piece of exciting news since just over a week ago, when I arrived home from the hospital to see an email pop into my inbox – titled “Congratulations: You’re a SAVEUR Blog Awards Finalist”. It was one of those cloud-like, can’t-quite-believe-it feelings, accompanied by a burst of heart-racing adrenaline and a bubble of fizzing excitement that made me want to simultaneously dance around the room and sit there stunned, rereading the text more closely to confirm it was real. A smile tugged at the edges of my mouth all weekend, impossible to suppress.
The Brick Kitchen is a finalist in the ‘Best New Voice’ category, and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate me and everyone who reads, comments on and makes recipes from this little corner of the internet – I can’t express how much I appreciate it. It’s an honour to be included in the Saveur awards amongst so many other inspiring bloggers, and it really means a huge amount to me to be on that list. See here to check out the other finalists and vote for your favourites for the Reader’s Choice awards – you can vote as many times as you like, so vote early and often until they close on August 31st.
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Over the last 18 months The Brick Kitchen has developed and changed in ways that I couldn’t have imagined when I first tentatively clicked ‘publish’. I worked on those initial posts in the summer before my second year of medical school, looking forward to recording recipes but certain it would be simply a side-project – a few quick photos taken of favourite meals – and figured that only my parents would actually read it. Looking back today at early posts like these salmon, corn and avocado tortillas, and this chocolate, zucchini & salted caramel birthday cake demonstrated just how far this space has come and just how important it is to me now – as a passion, as a creative outlet, as a piece of my love for food and a place to share those ideas and thoughts with every one of you.
It’s taught me so much already. It’s pulled me back from being swallowed by the unending wash of information and the often all-consuming nature of medicine. Writing posts has given me the space and time to think more, to question more, to reason and put my ideas on paper (or on a screen). I didn’t realise how photography might start to change how I see parts of the world – to notice things I might have otherwise glanced over. The beauty of light playing on raw ingredients, of motion and colour and creating a story in stills. Even the act of having a blog has forced me to be more innovative with what I create – to question ingredients, and make judgements on how flavours and textures might fit together, jigsaw-like.
These mocha profiteroles with espresso ice cream & caramelized cocoa nibs are my ideal celebratory dessert. A french classic, choux pastry is easier than it looks and the perfect way to impress – don’t be scared off by the croquembouche towers constructed on masterchef, or the soggy fails detailed over the internet. Have all your ingredients ready to go, read the recipe carefully a couple of times, and I promise it’s unlikely to be that traumatic. The crisp, puffy choux pastry buns are paired with a creamy no-churn espresso ice cream, rivers of warm dark chocolate sauce, and glass-like shards of caramelized cocoa nibs. I found the later overwhelmingly bitter when I first tried them raw, but the candy-sweet caramel coating balances that to form crunchy, intense bursts of flavour and texture.
It’s all make-ahead, so ideal for a dinner party – the ice cream, mocha sauce and caramelized cocoa nibs are all easily made ahead, and the profiteroles just need to be made the day of.
- 1 cup water
- 75 g butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup flour
- 4-5 eggs , depending on size. (I used 4.5!)
- Icing sugar to dust.
- 150 g dark chocolate , roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 shot espresso (or 1/4 cup strong hot coffee)
- 1/4 cup sugar (50g)
- 1/4 cup cocoa nibs (25g)
- 2 cup cream
- 1 can (400ml) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1/4 cup cold brew coffee or cold espresso
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
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Preheat oven to 220°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
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Place the water, butter, sugar and salt in a heavy based saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to medium. Quickly add the flour all at once and beat vigorously until the dough comes away cleanly from the sides of the pot and is smooth and glossy.
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Transfer to a cake mixer and beat for 30 seconds with the balloon whisk. Add the first 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The addition of the last egg depends on the size of your eggs - you will need to make a judgment call about the consistency of your choux pastry - I often add half of the last egg. The pastry needs to be glossy and hold its shape when you pipe it (see photos), and ‘drop’ off your beaters smoothly (see photo).
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Pipe or spoon walnut sized balls of dough onto the lined baking trays, leaving 2cm between each.
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Bake for 10 minutes then reduce the oven temperature 200°C and bake a further 10-15 minutes or until golden and dry. I normally check one by pulling one out and cutting it in half.
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Either cool uncovered in a single layer if using straight away, or freeze immediately to use at another time.
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Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.
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In a small saucepan, heat the combined cream and milk to boiling point.
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Pour the cream/milk mixture and the hot espresso onto the chopped chocolate.
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Leave to sit and melt for 3-5 minutes then whisk until silky smooth. Keep in a warm place if using soon, or cool and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. To reheat, place in a double boiler (in a bowl sitting over a pot of barely simmering water) and slowly heat until warm and silky.
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Spread the sugar in a pan in an even layer. Heat over medium heat until the sugar starts to melt, and using a heatproof spatula, gently stir the sugar until it is a dark amber colour and just begins to smoke (but before it burns!)
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Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the cocoa nibs so they are coated with caramel. Scrape them onto the baking paper and spread as much as you can into an even layer before it hardens (see photo). Allow to harden at room temperature, then crumble into little pieces.
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In a mixer or with an electric beater, whip the cream to stiff peaks. In a separate bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Whisking the cream continuously, slowly pour the condensed milk mix into the cream until combined.
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Gently whisk in the cold coffee and instant espresso powder.
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Transfer to a container, cover and freeze overnight.
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Slice the profiteroles in half and fill with a scoop of espresso ice cream. Top with a drizzle of mocha sauce and caramelized cocoa nibs. Dust with icing sugar to finish.
CONGRATS!!! i saw the nominees yesterday and was like OMG SHE MADE IT! so well deserved, especially when you put out mocha profiteroles (um caramelized cocoa nibs should be on everythinggg).
Heather thank you so much!! and yeeess ALL the caramelised cocoa nibs, I have no idea why I didn’t make them earlier. x
So many congrats to you, Claudia! I can completely relate to your description of how blogging brought you to see the world and all of its beauty a little differently. I can honestly say it did the same for me and ended up changing me a lot as a person as a result. Crazy to think about how a simple little digital recipe collection/journal can do that for so many of us. Anyway, I’m thrilled for you — keep on smiling and dancing and making all the celebratory profiteroles! You deserve it. xo
SO SO MANY CONGRATULATIONS CLAUDIA! You are such a blogger boss – finalist, med student, runner – totally killing it in so many ways! I was so happy for you (still am hehe)
Send these profiteroles over to Indiana so I can eat them ALL! They look incredible!!!
ERICA thank you so so much!! You are way too kind and seriously, you are just as much of a blogger boss girl! Loving all your instagram lady dinners lately by the way <3
Well. . .big congratulations to you. So exciting and well deserved and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with these super stunning profiteroles. The light bouncing off that chocolate sauce is absolutely divine.
Thanks Lynn, and YES these profiteroles are the ideal celebratory dessert – can’t go wrong with warm chocolate sauce right?! x
Yah👏🏻👏🏻Congratulations ,Well deserved !
Finally you came up with espresso ice- cream recipe. Can’t wait to try it !!Xx
Thanks Rabiya! Let me know what you think of the recipe when you give it a go! You can adjust the amount of instant espresso powder to suit how strong you like it x
Congratulations I bet you felt ready to burst. Im very pleased I found your blog and have loved following along with your journey best of luck. These profiteroles look amazing and caramelised coco nibs are genius.
Hahah that is exactly it, I just about fell over from shock haha! Thank you so much Rebecca, I really appreciate your support xx
Ahhhh, congrats, Claudia. That must have been an amazing feeling! The effort you put into every single post is always so apparent and your photography and writing have become so polished… what’s next?! So happy for you and proud to be one of The Brick Kitchen early followers 😛 😀
Oh and PS these are great! Love the shards of caramelised cocoa nibs! I have hardly ever had a good profiterole… I think it’s one of those things that boarding school ruined for me haha
Thank you so much Hannah! It was crazy, I couldn’t quite believe the email even as it sat in my inbox haha! That means so much, thank you for all your support <3 next time you are in Melbourne (or I'm in Brisbane) we definitely need to meet in real life!
And yes they had terrible 'cream puffs' at college too..I avoided them entirely and am very glad I did...I think they might have ruined them for me too otherwise.
Congratulations, dear!! You’re always making creative and visually stunning food, and it’s always apparent you put a lot of time and thought into your posts. So happy for you, and so impressed by these profiteroles! They’re gorgeous!
Thanks Beeta, that means a lot – I still can’t quite believe it myself! And glad you like the profiteroles, especially coming from an expert in french food xx
Congratulations Claudia! You have a gorgeous perspective, incredible recipes, and are ever the kindest voice. xo
Thank you so much Danielle! That is so lovely of you to say, thanks for your support <3 xx
Claudia – congratulations!!! Well deserved, too. Again, cant get enough of your photography. Keep my fingers crossed for you – may the best one win! 🙂
Thanks Carina! really appreciate it, and so excited for the event! Hope you are having a lovely week 🙂
Dear Claudia, congratulations!!! I am glad I found your blog and I can only imagine how excited and happy you must be to get on that list! I also started my little blog year and half ago and it has changed my whole life and became such an important part of who I am, I know how much love, work, energy goes into it so it must feel great to be recognised like this, keep up the good work and good luck! 🙂
Thank you Lili. You are so right, excitement levels are seriously high at the moment, still seems so crazy. It is funny how having a blog changes your perspective and priorities – glad you have experienced that too! So lovely to hear from you, hope you are having a great week 🙂
Well done and good luck! Enjoy reading your posts as much as I enjoy the recipes and the photography! As always these look and sound delicious, will have to put them on my to do list!! Every single thing I have made of your has always been fabulous.
Thanks so much Gabrielle! Really appreciate your support and so glad all the recipes have worked out for you! xx
Ahh so many congrats!!!! Hopefully I can see you in NY and we can hang out! I saw your name on the list, and I did a fist pump in the air – SO excited for you. I identify with this post so much. Thank you for sharing and I can’t wait!!
Yay thank you so much Betty! So excited when I saw that you were nominated as well, would love to meet up in NY! Just need to get dates and flights… but ahh NY is such a dream! Hope you are having a lovely week xx
Hi Alexandra,
I just voted for you on the Saveur Award. Good luck! While scrolling through your blog I was wondering where you did get that Pinterest button over the pictures. Thanks a lot for your answer.
Thanks Lara! I got the pinterest button with a plugin called ‘jQuery Pin It Button For Images’ that is available for WordPress blogs. 🙂
When I saw your blog and your name listed among the finalists, I said “Yes! She made it!” So so happy and so well deserved. Congratulations! Over here we enjoy reading your blog and looking at your pictures immensely. These profiteroles are stunning. Another great job. Good luck, dear Claudia!
Aw thank you so much Nicoletta, that means so much to hear, I really appreciate it! I still can’t quite believe it is actually real haha! Hope you guys are having a great week 🙂
Congrats Claudia!!!!! Thats amazing news. Just voted. And I’ll raise a virtual glass of champagne!
Thanks Debs!! x
Firstly – congratulations! That’s so exciting! I love coming to your blog for each new recipe, your gorgeous combinations of ingredients and flavours, and for the stunning photos! All the best for the finals!
Secondly – I NEED to make these profiteroles stat! What an amazing combination of flavours, and no one can say no to a profiterole with ice cream!
Thanks Amy,, that is so lovely to hear! Would love to know what you think of these profiteroles if you give them a go – they disappeared so quickly in our house <3
saw the last of nominees and was so happy to see your blog listed. congratulations! your photos are stunning and recipes delicious. it’s wonderful and inspiring to see how your blog has developed and grown. best of luck to you!
Thanks Cathy! Really appreciate your support and it means so much to hear that! xx
Congrats on bring a finalist! I can imagine how exciting this is! It is definitely well deserved! 🙂 And these profiteroles are seriously mouthwatering!
Thanks so much Amanda! I still can’t quite believe it’s happening, crazy! 🙂
Truly beautiful! And a BIG congratulations! Pinned
Thanks Jess!! x
These look so delicious and your photographs are fabulous, many congratulations too!